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Epochs of American History 

EDITED BY 

ALBERT BUSHNELL HART, Ph.D. 



FORMATION OF THE UNION 
17^0-1829 



ALBERT BUSHNELL HART 



EPOCHS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



EDITED BY 

ALBERT BUSHNELL HART, A.B., PH.D. 

Professor of History in Harvard University. 



Wif/i full Marginal Analyses^ Working Bibliographies, 
Maps and Indices. i2mo. Cloth. 



1 



1. THE COLONIES, 1492-1750. 
By Reuben Gold Thwaites, Secretary of the 
State Historical Society of Wisconsin; author of 
^^Historic Waterways^^ etc., etc. 

2. FORMATION OF THE UNION, 1750-1829. 
By Albert Bushnell Hart, A.B., Ph.D., the 

editor of the series, author of 'Introduction to the 
Study of Federal Government" etc., etc. 

3. DIVISION AND REUNION, 1829-1889- 
By WooDROW Wilson, Ph.D., LL.D., Professor 
of Jurisprudence in Princeton College, author of 
" Congressional Cover Jiment^ "The State — Elements 
of Historical and Practical Politics" etc., etc. 



Epochs of American History 



Formation of the Union 
1750-1829 



BY 



ALBERT BUSHNELL HART, Ph.D. 

PROFKSSOK OF HISTORY IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY, MEMBER OF THE MASSACHU- 
SETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY, AUTHOR OF "INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY 
OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT," " PRACTICAL ESSAYS ON AMERICAN 
GOVERNMENT," " EPOCH MAPS," ETC. 



WITH FIVE MAPS 



EIGHTH EDITION, REVISED 



NEW YORK 
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 

LONDON AND BOMBAY 
1897 



Co' 



52490 




its'- 



Copyright, 
By Longmans, Green, and Co. 



Copyright, 1897, 
By Longmans, Green, and Co. 



All rights reserved. 



^anibfrsttp Press: 

John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A. 



' If 



Co t!)e ifHemorg 



THOMAS H. LAMSON, 

A GENEROUS FRIEND OF LEARNING. 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



The second volume of the Epochs of American 
History aims to follow out the principles laid down 
for " The Colonies," — the study of causes rather than 
of events, the development of the American nation 
out of scattered and inharmonious colonies. The 
throwing off of English control, the growth out of 
narrow political conditions, the struggle against foreign 
domination, and the extension of popular govern- 
ment, are all parts of the uninterrupted process of 
the Formation of the Union. 

So mighty a development can be treated only in 
its elements in this small volume. Much matter is 
thrown into graphic form in the maps ; the Sugges- 
tions for Readers and Teachers, and the bibliographies 
at the heads of the chapters are meant to lead to 
more detailed accounts, both of events and of social 
and economic conditions. iVlthough the book in- 
cludes three serious wars, there is no military history 
in it. To the soldier, the movement of troops is a 
professional question of great significance ; the lay- 
man needs to know, rather, what were the means, 



viii Preface. 

the character, and the spirit of the two combatants 
in each case, and why one succeeded where the other 
was defeated. 

To my colleague, Professor Edward Channing, I 
am indebted for many suggestions on the first four 

chapters. 

ALBERT BUSHNELL HART. 

Cambridge, July i, 1892. 



PREFACE TO THE EIGHTH EDmON. 

During the five years since this volume of the 
Epochs of America7L History was first issued, the 
literature of the subject has made constant advances; 
and hence the Suggestions for Readers and Teachers 
and the bibliographies at the head of each chapter 
have been pruned, enlarged, and rewritten. The text 
has undergone fewer changes. The good-will of users 
of the book has pointed out some errors and inaccura- 
cies, which have been corrected from time to time ; 
and new light has in some cases dawned upon the 
author. I shall always be grateful for corrections of 
fact or of conclusions. 

ALBERT BUSHNELL HART, 

Cambridge, July i, 1897. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR READERS AND 
TEACHERS. 

Each of the volumes in the series is intended to be 
complete in itself, and to furnish an account of the period 
it covers sufficient for the general reader or student. 
Those who wish to supplement this book by additional 
reading or study will find useful the bibliographies at the 
heads of the chapters. 

For the use of teachers the following method is recom- 
mended. A chapter at a time may be given out to the 
class for their preliminary reading, or the paragraph 
numbers may be used in assigning lessons. From the 
references at the head of the chapter a report may then 
be prepared by one or more members of the class on each 
of the numbered sections included in that chapter ; these 
reports may be filed, or may be read in class when the 
topic is reached in the more detailed exercises. Pupils 
take a singular interest in such work, and the details thus 
obtained will add a local color to the necessarily brief 
statements of the text. 

Students' Reference Library. 

The following brief works will be found useful for ref- 
erence and comparison, or for the preparation of topics. 
The set should cost not more than twelve dollars. Of 
these books, Lodge's IVashinoton, Morse's ycffeisoji, 
and Schurz's Clay^ read in succession, make up a brief 
narrative history of the whole period. 



X Suggestions for Readers and TcacJiers. 

1. Edward Channing: The United States of America, 
17G5-1SG5. New York: Macmillan Co., 1896. — Excellent 
survey of conditions and causes. 

2. Alexander Johnston : History of American Politics. 
2d ed. New York : Holt, 1890. — Lucid account of political 
events in brief space. 

3,4. Henry Cabot Lodge: George Washington [Ameri- 
can Statesjnen Series). 2 vols. Boston : Houghton, Mifflin & 
Co., 1889. — Covers the period 1732-1799. 

5. John T. Morse, Jr. : Thomas Jefferson [American States- 
men Series). Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1883. — Cov- 
ers the period 17 50-1 809. 

6. Carl Schurz: Henry Clay, L [American Statesmen 
Series). Boston : Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1887. — Covers 
the period 1777-1833. 

7. Edward Stanwood : A History of Presidential Elec- 
tions. 3d ed. revised. Boston : Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 
1892. — An account of the political events of each presidential 
campaign, with the platforms and a statement of the votes. 

8. Simon Sterne : Constitutional History and Political 
Develop7nejit of the United States. 4th ed. revised. New 
York : Putnam's, 1888. — An excellent brief summary of the 
development of the Constitution. 

9. Hermann Von Holst : The Constituiiojial and Political 
History of the United States. Vol. I. 1750-1S33. State Sover- 
eignty and Slavery. Chicago : Callaghan & Co., 1877. — 
Not a consecutive history, but a philosophical analysis and 
discussion of the principal constitutional events. 

Sclaool Reference Library. 

The following works make up a convenient reference 
library of secondary works for study on the period of this 
volume. The books should cost not more than thirty-five 
dollars. 



List of Reference Boohs. xi 

1-9. The brief works enumerated in the previous list. 

10. Edward Channing and Albert Bushnell Hart . 
Guide to the Study of American History. Boston : Ginn & Co., 
1896. — A classified bibliography, with suggestions as to 
methods. 

ir, 12. George Ticknor Curtis: Constitittional History 
of the United States froni their Declaration of Independence to the 
Close of their Civil War. 2 vols. New York : Harpers, 1S89- 
1896. — Volume I. is a reprint of Curtis's earlier History of the 
Constitution, in two volumes, and covers the period 17 74- 1790. 
Chapters i.-vii. of Volume II. come down to about 1830. 

13. Richard Frothingham : The Rise of the Republic 
of the United States. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1872. — 
A careful study of the progress of independence, from 1750 to 
1783. Indispensable. 

14. Sydney Howard Gay: fames Madison {American 
Statesmen Series). Boston : Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1884. 

15. Judson S Landon : The Constitutional History and 
Government of the United States. A Series of Lectures. Boston : 
Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1889. — The only recent brief consti- 
tutional history, except Sterne. 

16. Henry Cabot Lodge : Alexander Hamilton {American 
Statesmen Series). Boston and New York : Houghton, Mifflin 
& Co., 1882. 

17. John T. Morse, Jr. : John Adams [Americait Statesmen 
Series). Boston : Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1885. 

18. John T. Morse, Jr. : John Adams {American Statesmen 
Series). Boston : Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1882. 

19-21. James Schouler : History of the United States of 
America under the Constitution. New ed. 5 vols. New York : 
Dodd, Mead & Co., 1895. — This is the only recent and com- 
plete history which systematically covers the whole period from 
1783 to 1861. The style is very inelegant, but it is an excellent 
repository of facts. Vols. I.-III, (sold separately) cover the 
period 1783-1830. 



xii Suggestions for Readers and Teachers. 

22. William Milligan Sloane: The French War and 
the Revolution [Attierican History Series). New York : Scrib- 
ners, 1893. — Covers the period 1700-1783. 

23. Francis A. Walker : The Making of the Nation 
(American History Series). New York: Scribners, 1894. — 
Covers the period 1783-1817. 

Larger Reference Library. 

For school use or for extended private reading, a larger 
collection of the standard works on the period 1 750-1829 
is necessary. The following books ought to cost about 
a hundred and fifty dollars. Many may be had at second- 
hand through dealers, or by advertising in the Publishers^ 
Weekly. 

Additional titles may be found in the bibliographies at 
the heads of the chapters, and through the formal bibli- 
ographies, such as Foster's References to Presidoitial 
Administrations., Winsor's Na7'rative and Critical His- 
tory, Bowker and Iles's Reader's Guide, and Channing 
and Hart's Guide. 

1-23. The books enumerated in the two lists above. 

24-32. Henry Adams: History of the Uitited States of 
Anie7-ica. 9 vols. New York : Scribners, 1889-1 891. — Period, 
1801-1817. Divided into four sets, for the first and second 
administrations of Jefferson and of Madison ; each set obtain- 
able separately. The best history of the period. 

T^T^. Henry Adams : John Randolph {American Statesmen 
Series). Boston: Houghton, Mifilin & Co., 1882. 

34-43. George Bancroft: History of the United States, 
from the Discovery of the American Continent. 10 vols. P'os- 
ton: Little, Brown & Co., 1834-1874. — Vols. IV.-X. cover 
the period 1748-1782. Of the third edition, or "author's last 
revision," in six volumes (New York : Appleton, 1883-1885), 



List of Reference Books, xiii 

Vols. III.-VI. cover the period 1 763-1 789. The work is rhe- 
torical and lacks unity, but is valuable for facts. 

44. William Cullen Bryant and Sydney Howard 
Gay : A Poptdar History of the United States. 4 vols. New 
York: Scribners, 1876-1S81. — Entirely the work of Mr. Gay. 
Well written and well illustrated. 

45, 46. John Fiske : The American Revolution. 2 vols. 
Boston : Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1891. 

47, John Fiske: The Critical Period of American History, 
1 783-1789. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1888. — Re- 
markable narrative style. 

48. Daniel C. Gilman : James Monroe [American States- 
men Series). Boston : Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1883. 

49-52. Richard Hildreth : The History of the United 
States of America. Two series, each 3 vols. New York : 
Harpers, 1849-1856 (also later editions from the same plates). 
— Vols. II.-VI. cover the period 1750-1821. Very full and 
accurate, but without foot-notes. Federalist standpoint. 

53. James K. Hosmer: Samuel Adams [American States- 
men Series). Boston : Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1885. 

54-57. John Bach McMaster : A Histo7y of the People of 
the United States, frojn the Revolution to the Civil War. 4 vols. 
New York: Appleton, 1883-1895. — The four volumes pub- 
lished cover the period 1784-1820. The point of view in the 
first volume is that of social history ; in later volumes there is 
more political discussion. 

58. John T. Morse, Jr. : Benja7nin Franklin [American 
Statesmen Series). Boston : Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1889. 

59, 60. Francis Parkman : Montcalm and Wolfe. 2 vols. 
Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1885. 

61, George Pellew : Johti Jay {American Statesmen 
Series). Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1890. 

62, 62- Timothy Pitkin : A Political and Civil History of 
the United States of America, f'om the Year 1763 to the Close 
of the Admijiistration of President Washingto7i, in March, 1797. 



xiv Suggestions for Readers and Teachers. 

2 vols. New Haven : Howe and Durrie & Peck, 1828. — An 
old book, but well written, and suggestive as to economic and 
social conditions. 

64. Theodore Roosevelt : Gouvemeur Morris {American 
Statesmen Series). Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1888. 

65. John Austin Stevens : Albert Gallatin {American 
Statesmen Series). Boston : Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1S84. 

66-69. George Tucker : The History of the United States, 
from their Colonization to the End of the Tzventy-Sixth Congress, 
in IS^l- 4 vols. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1856-1857. — 
Practically begins in 1774. Written from a Southern stand- 
point. 

70. Moses Coit Tyler: Patrick Henry {American States- 
men Series). Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1887. 

71-78. Justin Winsor : Narrative and Critical History of 
America. 8 vols. Boston & New York : Houghton, Mifflin 
& Co., 1886-T889. — Vol. VI. and part of Vol. VII. cover the 
period 1 750-1 789. The rest of Vol. VII. covers the period 
1789-1830. Remarkable for its learning and its bibliography, 
but not a consecutive history. 

Sources. 

In the above collections are not included the sources 
which are necessary for proper school and college work. 
References will be found in the bibliographies preceding 
each chapter below, and through the other bibliographies 
there cited. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE AMERICANS IN I750. 



PAGES 



I. References, p. i. — 2. Colonial geography, p. 2. — 
3. The people and their distribution, p. 3. — 4. In- 
herited institutions, p. 5. — 5. Colonial develop- 
ment of English institutions, p. 8. — 6. Local 
government in the colonies, p. 11. — 7. Colonial 
government, p. 13. — 8. English control of the colo- 
nies, p. 16. — 9. Social and economic conditions, 
p. 17. — TO. Colonial slavery, p. 19 1-21 



CHAPTER n. 

EXPULSION OF THE FRENCH (1750-I763). 

II. References, p. 22. — 12. Rival claims in North 
America (1690-1754), p. 23. — 13. Collisions on 
the frontier {1749- 1 7 54), p. 24. — 14. The strength 
of the parties (1754), p. 27. — 15. Congress of 
Albany {1754), p. 28. — 16. Military operations 
(1755-1757), P- 30- — 17- The conquest of Canada 
(1758-1760), p. 33. — 18. Geographical results of 
the war (1763), p. 34. — 19. The colonies during 
the war {1754-1763), p. 37. — 20. Politioal effects 
of the war (1763), p. 39 22-41 



xvi CoJitcnts. 

CHAPTER HI. 

CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION (1763-I775). 

PAGES 

21. References, p. 42. — 22. Condition of the British Em- 
pire (1763), p. 43. — 23. New schemes of colonial 
regulation (1763), p. 44. — 24. Writs of Assistance 
{1761-1764), p. 46. — 25. The Stamp Act (1763- 
1765), p. 48. J— 26. The Stamp Act Congress (1765), 
p. 50. — 27, Revenue acts (1767), p. 53. — 28. 
Colonial protests and repeal (1767-1770), p. 55. — 
29. Spirit of violence in the colonies (1770-1773), 
p. 56. — 30. Coercive acts of 1774, p. 59. — 31. The 
First Continental Congress (1774), p. 60. — 32. Out- 
break of hostilities (1775), p. 63. — T^-i^. Justification 
of the Revolution, p. 64 42-68 



CHAPTER IV. 

UNION AND INDEPENDENCE (1775-I783). 

34. References, p. 69. — 35. The strength of the com- 
batants (1775), p. 70 — 36. The Second Conti- 
nental Congress (1775), p. 73. — 37. The national 
government formed (1775), P- 74- — 3^- Indepen- 
dence declared (1776), p. 77. — 39. New State 
governments formed {1775-1777), p. 80. — 40. 
The first period of the war (1775-1778), p. 82. — 
41. Foreign relations (1776-1780), p. 85. — 42. 
The war ended (1778-1782), p. 87. — 43. Finances 
of the Revolution (1775-1783), p. 89. — 44. Inter- 
nal difficulties (1775-1782), p. 92. — 45. Forma- 
tion of a Constitution (1776-1781), p. 93. — 46. 
Peace negotiated (1781-1783), p. 95. — 47. Polit- 
ical effects of the war (1775-1 783), p. 99 . . . 69-101 



Revolution and Confederation. xvii 



CHAPTER V. 

THE CONFEDERATION (1781-I788). 

PAGES 

48. References, p. 102. — 49, The United States in 1781, 
p. 103. — 50. Form of the government (1781-1788), 
p. 104. — 51. Disbandment of the army (1783), 
p. 105. — 52. Territorial settlement with the States 
(1781-1802), p. 107. — 53. Finances (1781-1788), 
p. 109. — 54. Disorders in the States (1781-1788), 
p. III. — 55. Slavery (1777-1788), p. 113. — 56. For- 
eign relations and commerce (1781-1788), p. 115. 
— 57. Disintegration of the Union {1786, 1787), 
p. 117. — 58. Reorganization attempted (1781-1787), 
p. 118 102-119 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION (1787-I789). 

59. References, p. 120. — 60. The Federal Convention 
assembled (1787), p. 121. — 61. Difficulties of the 
convention {1787), p. 122. — 62. Sources of the 
Constitution, p. 124. —63. The great compromises 
(1787), p. 125. — 64. Details of the Constitution 
(1787), p. 127. — 65. Difficulties of ratification 
(1787, 1788), p. 128.— 66. State conventions (1787, 
1788), p, 130. — 67. Expiration of ♦^he Confedera- 
tion (1788), p. 132. — 68. Was the Constitution a 
compact? p. 133 120-135 

CHAPTER Vn. 

ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT (1789-I793). 

69. References, p. 136—70. Geography of the United 
States in 1789, p. 137.— 71. The people of the 
United States in 1789, p. 138. — 72. Political meth- 



'"fviii Contents. 

PAGES 

ods in 1789, p. 140. — 73. Organization of Congress 
(1789), p. 141. — 74. Organization of the Executive 
(1789, 1790), p. 143 — 75 Organization of the 
courts (17S9-1793) p. 145,-76. Revenue and pro- 
tection (1789, i790j,p 146. — 77. National and State 
debts (1789, 1790), p 148—78. United States Bank 
(179T, 1792), p. 150 — 79. Slavery questions (1789- 
1798), p. 151 — 80. The success of the new govern- 
ment {1789- 1792), p 152 136-153 



CHAPTER VIII. 

FEDERAL SUPREMACY {1793-1801). 

5i. References, p. 154. — 82. Formation of political par- 
ties (1792-1794), p. 155 — 83. War between France 
and England (1793), p 157. — 84. American neutral- 
ity (1793). p. 158- — 85- The Jay Treaty (1794- 
1796), p. 160. — 86. The Whiskey Rebellion (1794), 
p 163 — 87 Election of John Adams (1796), p. 164. 
— 88. Breach with France (1795-1798), p 166 — 
89. Alien and Sedition Acts (1798), p. 168. — 
90 Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions ( 1 798-1800), 
p. 170 — 91. Election of 1800, 1801, p. 171 — 
92. Causes of the fall of the Federalists, p- 173 . 154-175 

CHAPTER IX. 

REPUBLICAN SUPREMACY (180I-1809). 

93. References, p. 176. — 94. The political revolution of 
1801, p. 176. — 95. Jefferson's civil service (1801- 
1803), p. 179. -r 96. Attack on the judiciary (iSoi- 
1805), p. 180. — 97. The policy of retrenchment 
(1801-1809), p. 182. — 98. Barbary Wars (1801- 
1806), p. 184. — 99. Annexation of Louisiana 
(1803), p. 185. — 100. Federal schemes of disunion 
(1803-1809), p. 1S8. — loi. The Burr conspiracy 



' Federalists and Republicans, xix 

PAGES 

{1806, 1807), p. 189. — 102. Aggressions on neutral 
trade (1803-1807), p. 191. — 103. Policy of non- 
resistance {1805-1807), p. 192. — 104. The embargo 
(1807, iSo8j, p. 195. — 105. Repeal of the embargo 
(1809), p. 196 176-198 

CHAPTER X. 

THE UNION IN DANGER (1809-1815). 

106. References, p. 199. — 107. Non-intercourse laws 
{1809, 1810), p. 200. — 108. Fruitless negotiations 
(1809-1811), p. 201. — 109. The war party {1811), 
p. 203. — no. Strength of the combatants (1812), 
p. 206. — III. War on the northern frontier (1812, 
1813), p. 209. — 112. Naval war (1812-1815), p. 210. 
— 113. Disastrous campaign of 1814, p. 212. — 
114. Question of the militia (1812-1814), p. 214. 
— 115. Secession movement in New England (1814), 
p. 216. — 116. Peace of Ghent (1812-1814), p. 218. — 
117. Political effects of the war (1815), p. 220 199-222 



CHAPTER XL 

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC REORGANIZATION (1815-1824). 

118 References, p. 223. — 119. Conditions of national 
growth (1815), p 223. — 120. The second United 
States Bank (181 6), p. 226. — 121 Internal improve- 
ments (1806-1817), p. 227. — 122. The first protec- 
tive tariff (1816), p. 229. — 123. Monroe's administra- 
tion (1817-1825), p. 231. — 124. Territorial exten- 
sion (1805-1819), p. 233. — 125. Judicial decisions 
{1812-1824), p. 234. — 126. The slavery question 
revived (1815-1820), p. 236. — 127. The Missouri 
Compromises (1818-1821), p. 238. — 128. Relations 
with Latin-American States (1815-1S23), p. 241. — 
129. The Monroe Doctrine (1823), p. 243 . . 223-2^14 



XX Contents. 



CHAPTER XII. 

ELEMENTS OF POLITICAL REORGANIZATION (1824-1829). 

PAGES 

130, References, p. 245. — 131. Political methods in 1824, 
p. 245 — 132. The tariff of 1824 (1816-1824), p. 247 
— 133. The election of 1824, p. 248 — 134. The elec- 
tion of 1825, p. 250. — 135. The Panama Congress 
(1825, 1826), p. 251 — 136. Internal improvements 
(1817-1829), p. 253. — 137. The Creek and Chero- 
kee questions (1824-1829), p. 255. — 138. The 
tariff of abominations (1828), p. 257. — 139. Organ- 
ized opposition to Adams {1S25-1829), p. 259. — 
140. The triumph of the people (1828), p. 260 . 245-262 

Index 263 



LIST OF MAPS. 

1. Territorial Growth of the United States . . Frontispiece, 

2. English Colonies, 1 763-1775 End of vohime. 

3. The United States, 1783 End of vohane. 

4. The United States, March 4, 1801 . . . End of volume. 

5. The United States, March 4, 1825 . . . End of volume. 



EPOCHS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



FORMATION OF THE UNION. 

1750-1829. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE AMERICANS IN 1750. 
1. References. 

Bibliographies. — R. G. Thwaites, Colonies, §§ 39, 74, 90; 
notes to Joseph Story, Contmentaries, §§ 1-197 ; notes to H. C. Lodge, 
Colonies^ passim; notes to Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical 
History, V. chs. ii.-vi. ; Channing and Hart, Guide, §§ 130-133. 

Historical Maps. — R. G. Thwaites, Colonics, Maps Nos. i and 
4 {Epoch Maps, Nos. i and 4); G. P. Fisher, Colonial Era, Maps 
Nos. I and 3 ; Labberton, Atlas, Ixiii. ; B. A. Hinsdale, Old North- 
west (republished from MacCoun's Historical Geography). 

General Accounts. — Joseph Story, Commentaries, §§ 146-190; 
VV. E. H. Lecky, England in the Eighteenth Century, IT. 1-21 ; 
III. 267-305 ; T. W. Higginson, Larger History, ch. ix. ; Edward 
Channing, The United States, 1765-1865, ch. i. ; H. E. Scudder, 
Men and Manners in America ; Hannis Taylor, English Constitu- 
tion, Introduction, I. ; H. C. Lodge, Colonies (chapters on social life) ; 
T. Pitkin, United States, I. 85-138 ; Justin Winsor, Narrative and 
Critical History, V. chs. ii.-vi. ; R. Frothingham, Rise of the Republic, 
chs. i., iv. ; Grahame, United States, III. 145-176. 

Special Histories. — W. B. Weeden, Economic and Social His- 
tory of New England, IL chs. xiv., xv.; G. E. Howard, Local Con- 
stitutional History, I. chs. ii., iii., vii.-ix.; C. F. Adams, History of 
Quincy, chs. iii.-xiv.; M. C. Tyler, History of American Literature, 
II. ; Edward Channing, Town and County Governinent, and Naviga- 
tion Acts; F. B. Dexter, Estimates of Population ; C. F. Bishop. 
Elections in the Colonies; Wm. Hill, First Stages of the Tariff 
Policy; W. E. DuBois, Suppression of the Slave Trade; J. R. 
Brackett, Negro in Maryland. 

Contemporary Accounts. — Benjamin Franklin, Autobiogra- 
phy (1706-1771); John Woolman, Journal (1720-1772); George 
Whitefield, y^i^r/za/j (especially 1739); Kalm, Travels (1748-1749) ; 
Robert Rogers, Concise Account of North America (1763); A. Burn- 



2 TJie Americans in 1750. [§§1,2. 

aby, Travels (ly-fg-iyGo); Rdmund Burke, Euro/eaji Seitleinents i7t 
America ; William Douglass, S^nnmary ; the various colonial archives 
and documents. — Reprints in H. W. Preston, Documents Illustrative 
of Americaji History (charters, etc.) ; New Jersey Archives, XL, 
XII., XVIII. (extracts from newspapers) ; American History Leaflets, 
No. 16 ; Library of American Literature^ III. ; Aitierican History 
told by Contemporaries, II. 

2. Colonial Geography. 

By the end of the eighteenth century the term 
" Americans " was commonly applied in England, and 
British ^^^^ ^1 ^^ colonists themselves, to the Eng- 

America. lish-speaking subjects of Great Britain inhab- 
iting -the continent of North America and the adjacent 
islands. The region thus occupied comprised the Ba- 
hamas, the Bermudas, Jamaica, and some smaller West 
Indian islands, Newfoundland, the outlying dependency 
of Belize, the territory of the great trading corporation 
known as the Hudson's Bay Company, and — more im- 
portant than all the rest — the broad strip of territory 
running along the coast from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to 
the Altamaha River. 

It is in this continental strip, lying between the sea and 
the main chain of the Appalachian range of mountains, 
that the form.ation of the Union was accom- 
plished. The external boundaries of this im- 
portant group of colonies were undetermined ; the region 
west of the mountains was drained by tributaries of the 
St. Lawrence and the Mississippi rivers, and both these 
rivers were held in their lower course by the French 
Four successive colonial wars had not yet settled the im- 
portant question of the territorial rights of the two powers, 
and a fifth war was impending. 

So far as the individual colonics were concerned, their 
boundaries were established for them by English grants. 
The old charters of Massachusetts, Virginia, and the 
Carolinas had given title to strips of territory extending 



1750-] Colonial Geography, 3 

from the Atlantic westward to the Pacific. Those char- 
ters had lapsed, and the only colony in 1750 of which the 
jurisdiction exercised under the charter reached beyond the 
Appalachian mountains was Pennsylvania. The Connec- 
ticut grant had long since been ignored ; the Pennsylvania 
limits included the strategic point where the Alleghany 
and Monongahela rivers unite to form the Ohio. Near 
this point began the final struggle between the English 
and the French colonies. The interior boundaries be- 
tween colonies in 1750 were matters of frequent dispute 
and law-suits. Such questions were eventually brought 
to the decision of the English Privy Council, or remained 
to vex the new national government after the Revolution 
had begun. 

At this date, and indeed as late as the end of the Rev- 
olution, the continental colonies were all maritime. Each 
Thefron- ^f them had sea-ports enjoying direct trade 
tiers. ^vith Europe. The sea was the only national 

highway ; the sea-front was easily defensible. Between 
contiguous colonies there was intercourse ; but Nova 
Scotia, the last of the continental colonies to be estab- 
lished, was looked upon as a sort of outlyer, and its his- 
tory has little connection with the history of the thirteen 
colonies farther south. The western frontier was a source 
of apprehension and of danger. In northern Maine, on 
the frontiers of New York, on the west and southwest, 
lived tribes of Indians, often disaffected, and sometimes 
hostile. Behind them lay the French, hereditary enemies 
of the colonists. The natural tendency of the English 
was to push their frontier westward into the Indian and 
French belt. 

3. The People and their Distribution. 

This westward movement was not occasioned by the 
pressure of population. All the colonies, except, per 



4 The Americans in 1750. [§§3-4- 

haps, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Delaware, had 

abundance of vacant and tillable land. The population 

in 1750 was about 1,370,000. It ranged from 

Population. , ^i • r^ • ^ • -sr- 

less than 5,000 in Georgia to 240,000 in Vir- 
ginia. Several strains of non-English white races vi^ere 
included in these numbers. There were Dutch in New 
York, a few Swedes in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, 
Germans in New York and Pennsylvania, Scotch Irish 
and Scotch Highlanders in the mountains of Pennsyl- 
vania and South Carolina, a few Huguenots, especially in 
the South, and a few Irish and Jews. All the rest of 
the whites were English or the descendants of Enghsh. 
A slow stream of immigration poured into the colonies, 
chiefly from England. Convicts were no longer deported 
to be sold as private servants ; but redemptioners — per- 
sons whose services were mortgaged for their passage — 
were still abundant. Many years later, Washington writes 
to an agent inquiring about " buying a ship-load of Ger- 
mans," that is, of redemptioners. There was another 
important race-element, — the negroes, perhaps 220,000 
in number ; in South Carolina they far out-numbered the 
whites. A brisk trade was carried on in their importation, 
and probably ten thousand a year were brought into the 
country. This stream poured almost entirely into the 
Southern colonies. North of Maryland the number of 
blacks was not significant in proportion to the total popu- 
lation. A few Indians were scattered among the white 
settlements, but they were an alien community, and had 
no share in the development of the country. 

The population of 1,370,000 people occupied a space 
which in 1890 furnished homes for more than 25,000,000. 
The settlements as yet rested upon, or radi- 
ated from, the sea-coast and the watercourses ; 
eight-tenths of the American people lived within easy 
reach of streams navigable to the sea. Settlements had 



i7So] Population and Distribittion. 5 

crept up the Mohawk and Susquehanna valleys, but they 
were still m the midst of the wilderness. Within each 
colony the people had a feeling of common interest and 
brotherhood. Distant, outlying, and rebellious counties 
were infrequent. The Americans of 1750 were in char- 
American acter very like the frontiersmen of to-day^ 
character thgy ^gj-g accustomed to hard work, but 
equally accustomed to abundance of food and to a rude 
comfort ; they were tenacious of their rights, as be- 
came offshoots of the Anglo-Saxon race. In dealing with 
their Indian neighbors and their slaves they were master- 
ful and relentless. In their relations with each other 
they were accustomed to observe the limitations of the 
law. In deference to the representatives of authority, in 
respect for precedent and for the observances of unwrit- 
ten custom, they went beyond their descendants on the 
frontier. Circumstances in America have greatly changed 
in a century and a half : the type of American character 
has changed less. The quieter, longer-settled commu- 
nities of that day are still fairly represented by such 
islands of undisturbed American life as Cape Cod and 
Cape Charles. The industrious and thriving built good 
houses, raised good crops, sent their surplus abroad and 
bought English goods with it, went to church, and dis- 
cussed politics. In education, in refinement, in literature 
and art, most of the colonists had made about the same 
advance as the present farmers of Utah. The rude, rest- 
less energy of modern America was not yet awakened. 

4. Inherited Institutions. 

In comparison with other men of their time, the Am- 
ericans were distinguished by the possession of new 
political and social ideas, which were destined to be the 
foundation of the American commonwealth. One of the 
strongest and most persistent elements in national devel 



6 The Americmis in 1750. [§4. 

opment has been that inheritance of pohtical tiaditions 

and usages which the new settlers brought with them. 

Amonij the more ri<rid sects of New England 

Source of , ,r,TT, i 

American the example of the Hebrew theocracy, as set 
government, ^^^.^i^ -^ ^j^^ Scriptures, had great influence 
on government ; they were even more powerfully affected 
by the ideas of the Christian commonwealth held by the 
Protestant theologians, and particularly by John Calvin. 
The residence of the Plymouth settlers in the Nether- 
lands, and the later conquest of the Dutch colonies, had 
brought the Americans into contact with the singularly 
wise and free institutions of the Dutch. To some degree 
the colonial conception of government had been affected 
by the English Commonwealth of 1649, and the English 
Revolution of 1688. The chief source of the political 
institutions of the colonies was everywhere the institu- 
tions with which they were familiar at the time of the 
emigration from England. It is not accurate to assert 
that American government is the offspring of English 
government. It is nearer the truth to say that in the 
middle of the seventeenth century the Anglo-Saxon race 
divided into two branches, each of which developed in 
its own way the institutions which it received from the 
parent stock. From the foundation of the colonies to 
1789 the development of English government had little 
influence on colonial government. So long as the colo- 
nies were dependent they were subject to English regula- 
tion and English legal decisions, but their institutions 
developed in a very different direction. 

Certain fundamental pohtical ideas were common to 
the older and the younger branches of the Anglo-Saxon 

Political race, and have remained common to this day. 

ideas. jhg fjj-st was the idea of the supremacy of 

law, the conception that a statute was binding on the 
subject, on the members of the legislative body, and 



:75o.I Political Ideas. 7 

even on the sovereign. The people Qn both sides of 
the water were accustomed to an orderly government, in 
which laws were made and administered with regularity 
and dignity. The next force was the conception of an 
unwritten law, of the binding power of custom. This 
idea, although by no means peculiar to the English race, 
had been developed into an elaborate " common law," — 
a system of legal principles accepted as binding on sub^ 
ject and on prince, even without a positive statute. Out 
of these two underlying principles of law had gradually 
developed a third principle, destined to be of incalcula- 
ble force in modern governments, — the conception of 
a superior law, higher even than the law-making body. 
In England there was no written constitution, but there 
was a succession of grants or charters, in which cer- 
tain rights were assured to the individual. The long 
struggle with the Stuart dynasty in the seventeenth cen- 
tury was an assertion of these rights as against the Crown. 
In the colonies during the same time those rights were 
asserted against all comers, — against the colonial gov- 
ernors, against the sovereign, and against Parliament. 
The original colonies w^ere almost all founded on char- 
ters, specific grants which gave them territory and directed 
in what manner they should carry on government therein. 
These charters were held by the colonists to be irrevoca- 
ble except for cause shown to the .'^'-''"i'^farfi'on of a court 
of law; and it w^as a recognized ngftt ot me individual 
to plead that a colonial law was void because contrary to 
the charter." Most of the grants had lapsed or had been 
forcibly, and even illegally, annulled; but the principle 
still remained that a law was superior to the will of the 
ruler, and that the constitution was superior to the law. 
Thus the ground was prepared for a complicated federal 
government, with a national constitution recognized as the 
supreme law, and superior both to national enactments 
and to State constitutions or statutes 



S The Americans m 1750. [§§4,5- 

The growth of constitutional government, as we now 
understand it, was promoted by the establishment of two 
Principles of different sets of machinery for making laws 
freedom. ^nd carrying on government. The older and 
the younger branches of the race were alike accustomed 
to administer local affairs in local assemblies, and more 
general affairs in a general assembly. The two systems 
in both countries worked side by side without friction; 
hence Americans and Englishmen were alike unused to 
the interference of officials in local matters, and accus- 
tomed through their representatives to take an educat- 
ing share in larger affairs. The principle was firmly 
rooted on both sides of the water that taxes were not a 
matter of right, but were a gift of the people, voted 
directly or through their representatives. On both sides 
of the water it was a principle also that a subject was 
entitled to his freedom unless convicted of or charged with 
a crime, and that he should have a speedy, public, and 
fair trial to establish his guilt or innocence. Everywhere 
among the English-speaking race criminal justice was 
rude, and punishments were barbarous ; but the tendency 
was to do away with special privileges and legal exemp- 
tions. Before the courts and before the tax-gatherers 
all Englishmen stood practically on the same basis. 

5. Colonial Development of English Institutions. 

Beginning at the time of colonization with substantially 
the same principles of liberty and government, the two 
regions developed under circumstances so different that, 
at the end of a century and a half, they were as different 
from each other as from their prototype. 

The Stuart sovereigns of England steadily attempted 
to strengthen their power, and the resistance to that ef- 
fort caused an immense growth of Parliamentary influ- 
ence. The colonies had little occasion to feel or to resent 



'75°-] IiiJicritancc from England. g 

direct royal prerogative. To them the Crown was repre- 
sented by governors, with whom they could quarrel with- 
out being guilty cf treason, and from whom in 

Separation , ° ° ^ -^ , ,.' , 

of depart- general they feared very little, but whom they 
ments. could not depose. Governors shifted rapidly, 

and colonial assemblies eventually took over much of the 
executive business from the governors, or gave it to offi- 
cers whom they elected. But while, in the eighteenth 
century, the system of a responsible ministry was growing 
up in England under the Hanoverian kings, the colonies 
were accustomed to a sharp division between the legisla- 
tive and the executive departments. Situated as they 
were at a great distance from the mother-countr}-, the 
assemblies were obliged to pass sweeping laws. The 
easiest way of checking them was to limit the power of 
the assemblies by strong clauses in the charters or in the 
governor's instructions ; and to the very last the gover- 
nors, and above the governors the king, retained the 
power of royal veto, which in England was never exer- 
cised after 1708. Thus the colonies were accustomed to 
see their laws quietly and legally reversed, while Parlia- 
ment was growing into the belief that its will ought to 
prevail against the king or the judges. In a wild frontier 
country the people were obliged to depend upon their 
neighbors for defence or companionship. More empha- 
sis was thus thrown upon the local governments than in 
England. The titles of rank, which contin- 
ris ocracy. ^^^ ^^ have great social and political force 
in England, were almost unknown in America. The 
patroons in New York were in 1750 little more than 
great land-owners ; the fanciful system of landgraves, 
palsgraves, and caciques in Carolina never had any sul> 
stance. No permanent colonial nobihty was ever created, 
and but few titles were conferred on Americans. An 
American aristocracy did grow up, founded partly on the 



lo TJte Americans in 1750. [§§5^6. 

ownership of land, and partly on wealth acquired by 
trade. It existed side by side with a very open and 
accessible democracy of farmers. 

The gentlemen of the colonies were leaders; but if 
they accepted too many of the governor's favors or voted 
Powers of ^or too many of that officer's measures, they 
the colonies, found themselves left out of the assemblies by 
their independent constituents. The power over terri- 
tory, the right to grant wild lands, was also peculiar to 
the New World, and led to a special set of difficulties. 
In New England the legislatures insisted on sharing in 
this power. In Pennsylvania there was an unceasing 
quarrel over the proprietors' claim to quit-rents. Far- 
ther south the governors made vast grants unquestioned 
by the assemblies. In any event, colonization and the 
grant of lands were provincial matters. Each colony 
became accustomed to planting new settlements and to 
claiming new boundaries. The English common law 
was accepted in all the colonies, but it was modified 
everywhere by statutes, according to the need of each 
colony. Thus the tendency in colonial development was 
toward broad legislation on all subjects ; but at the same 
time the limitations laid down by charters, by the gov- 
ernor's instructions, or by the home government, in- 
creased and were observed. Although the assemblies 
freely quarrelled with individual governors and sheared 
them of as much power as they could, the people recog- 
nized that the executive was in many respects beyond 
their reach. The division of the powers of government 
into departments was one of the most notable things in 
colonial government, and it made easier the formation of 
the later state and national governments. 



I750-] Peculiar Colonial Development. 1 1 



6. Local Government in the Colonies. 

In each colony in 1750 were to be found two sets of 
governing organizations, — the local and the general. 
En-iish local The local unit appears at different times and 
guvernment. jjj different colonies under many names ; there 
were towns, townships, manors, hundreds, ridings, liber- 
ties, parishes, plantations, shires, and counties. Leaving 
out of account minor variations, there were three types 
of local government, — town government, county govern- 
ment, and a combination of the two. Each of these 
forms was founded on a system with which the colonists 
were famihar at the time of settlement, but each was 
modified to meet the changed conditions of America. 
The English county in 1600 was a military and judicial 
subdivision of the kingdom ; but for some local pur- 
poses county taxes were levied by the quarter sessions, 
a board of local government. The officers were the lord 
lieutenant, who was the military commander, and the 
justices of the peace, who were at the same time petty 
judges and members of the administrative board. The 
English " town " had long since disappeared except as a 
name, but its functions were in 1600 still carried out by 
two political bodies which much resembled it : the first 
was the parish, — an organization of persons responsible 
as tax-payers for the maintenance of the church building. 
In some places an assembly of these tax-payers met 
periodically, chose officers, "and voted money for the 
church edifice, the poor, roads, alid Hke local purposes. 
In other places a " select vestry," or corporation of per- 
sons filling its own vacancies, exercised the powers of 
parish government. In such cases the members were 
usually of the more important persons in the parish. 
The other wide-spread local organization was the manor; 
in origin this was a great estate, the tenants of which 



12 The Americans in 1750 [§§5,6. 

formed an assembly and passed votes for their common 
purposes. 

From these different forms of famihar local govern- 
ment the colonists chose those best suited to their own 
conditions. New Englanclers were settled in 
compact little communities ; they liked to live 
near the church, and where they could unite for protec- 
tion from enemies. They preferred the open parish as- 
sembly, to which they gave the name of "town meeting." 
Since some of the towns were organized before the colo- 
nial legislatures began to pass comprehensive laws, the 
towns continued, by permission of the colonial govern- 
ments, to exercise extended powers. The proceedings of 
a Boston town meeting in 1731 are thus reported: — 

"After Prayer by the Rev' m"^ John Webb, 

" Habijah Savage Esq'^ was chose to be Moderator for this 
meeting 

" Proposed to Consider About Reparing m'' Nathaniell Wil- 
Hams His Kitchen &c — 

" In Answer to the Earnest Desire of the Honourable House 
of Representatives — 

" Voted an Entire Satisfaction in the Town in the late 
Conduct of their Representatives in Endeavoring to preserue 
their Valuable Priviledges, And Pray their further Endeavors 
therein — 

"Voted. That the Afair of Repairing of the Wharff leadmg 
to the North Battrey. be left with the Selectmen to do therein 
as they Judge best — " 

The county was also organized in New England, but 
took on chiefly judicial and military functions, and speed- 
ily abandoned local administration. In the 

Counties. r~. -, ■, i 11. 1 

South the people settled ni separate planta- 
tions, usually strung out along the rivers. Popular as- 
semblies were inconvenient, and for local purposes the 
people adopted the English select vestry system in what 



Z750-] Local Government. 13 

they called parishes. The county government was em- 
phasized, and they adopted the English system of jus- 
tices of the peace, who were appointed by the governor 
and endowed with large powers of county legislation. 
Hence in the South the local government fell into the 
hands of the principal men of each parish without elec- 
tion, while in New England it was in the hands of the 
voters. 

In some of the middle colonies the towns and counties 
were both active and had a relation with each other 
Mixed which was the forerunner of the present sys- 

system. ^gj^-^ q£ local government in the Western 

States. In New York each town chose a member of 
the county board of supervisors; in Penns3'lvania the 
county officers as well as the town officers became elec- 
tive. Whatever the variations, the effect of local gov- 
ernment throughout the colonies was the same. The 
people carried on or neglected their town and county 
business under a system defined by colonial laws; but 
no colonial officer was charged with the supervision of 
local affairs. In all the changes of a century and a half 
since 1750 these principles of decentralization have been 
maintained. 

7. Colonial Government. 

Earlier than local governments in their development, 
and always superior to them in powers, were the colonial 
General governments. In 1750 there was a technical 

form. distinction between the charter governments 

of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, the 
proprietary governments of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and 
Maryland, and the provincial governments of the eight 
other continental colonics. In the first group there were 
charters which were substantially written constitutions 
binding on both king and colonists, and unalterable 



14 The Americans in 1750. [§7. 

except by mutual consent. In the second group some 
subject, acting under a royal charter, appointed the gov- 
ernors, granted the lands, and stood between the colonists 
and the Crown. In the third group, precedent and the 
governor's instructions were the only constitution. In 
essence, all the colonies of all three groups had the same 
form of government. In each there was an 
Suffrage. elective legislature ; in each the suffrage was 
very limited ; everywhere the ownership of land in free- 
hold was a requisite, just as it was in England, for the 
county suffrage. In many cases there was an additional 
provision that the voter must have a specified large 
quantity of land or must pay specified taxes. In some 
colonies there was a religious requirement. The land 
qualification worked very differently from the same sys- 
tem in England. Any man of vigor and industry might 
acquire land ; and thus, without altering the letter of the 
law to which they were accustomed, the colonial suffrage 
was practically enlarged, and the foundations of demo- 
cracy were laid. Nevertheless, the number of voters at 
that time was not more than a fifth to an eighth as large 
in proportion to the population as at present. In Con- 
necticut in 1775 among 200,000 people there were but 
4,325 voters. In 1890, the fourth Connecticut district, 
having about the same population, cast a vote of 36,500. 

The participation of the people in their own govern- 
ment was the more significant, because the colonies 
actually had what England only seemed to 

Legislature. , '' . . ,,r 

have, — three departments or government. 
The legislative branch was composed in almost all cases 
of two houses ; the lower house was elective, and by its 
control over money bills it frequently forced the passage 
of measures unacceptable to the co-ordinate house. This 
latter, except in a few cases, was a small body appointed 
by the governor, and had the functions of the executive 



^75°-} Colonial Government. 15 

council as well as of an upper house. The governor was 
a third part of the legislature in so far as he chose to 
exercise his veto power. The only other limitation o^.ue 
legislative power of the assemblies was the general pro- 
viso that no act "was to be contrary to the law of Eng- 
land, but agreeable thereto." 

The governor was the head of the executive depart- 
ment, — sometimes a native of the colony, as Hutchinson 
of Massachusetts, and Clinton of New York. 

Executive. -r, , r 

But he was often sent from over seas, as 
Cornbury of New York, and Dunmore of Virginia. In 
Connecticut and Rhode Island the legislatures chose the 
governor ; but they fell in with the prevailing practice 
by frequently re-electing men for a succession of years. 
The governor's chief power was that of appointment, 
although the assemblies strove to deprive him of it by 
electing treasurers and other executive officers. He had 
also the prestige of his little court, and was able to form 
at least a small party of adherents. As a representative 
of the home government he was the object of suspicion 
and defiance. As the receiver and dispenser of annoy- 
ing fees, he was likely to be unpopular; and wherever it 
could do so, the assembly made him feel his dependence 
upon it for his salary. 

Colonial courts were nearly out of the reach of tlie 
assemblies, except that their salaries might be reduced 

or withheld. The judges were appointed by 
u iciarj. ^^^^ governor, held during good behavior, and 
were reasonably independent both of royal interference 
and of popular clamor. The governor's council was 
commonly the highest court in the colony ; hence the 
question of the constitutionality of an act was seldom 
raised : since the council could defeat the bill by voting 
against it, it was seldom necessary to quash it by judicial 
process. Legal fees were high, and the courts were the 
most unpopular part of the governments. 



1 6 The Americans in 1750. [§§8,9. 



8. English Control of the Colonies. 

In Connecticut and Rhode Island, where the governor 
was not appointed by the Crown, the colonies closely ap- 
English proached the condition of republics ; but even 

statutes. in these cases they acknowledged several 

powers in England to which they were all subject. First 
came English law. It was a generally accepted principle 
that all English statutes in effect at the time of the first 
colonization held good for the colonies so far as applicable ; 
and the principles of the common law were everywhere ac- 
cepted. Second came the Crown. When the colonies were 
founded, the feudal system was practically dead in Eng- 
land ; but the conception that the Crown held 
the original title to all the lands was applied 
in the colonies, so that all titles went back to Indian or 
royal grants. Parliament made no protest when the king 
divided up and gave away the New World. Parliament 
acquiesced when by charter he created trading companies 
and bestowed upon them powers of government. Down 
^ ,. to 1765 Parliament seldom legislated for indi- 

Parhament. .111. , • "" n 1 , 1 1 

vidual colonies, and it was generally held that 
the colonies were not included in English statutes unless 
specially mentioned. The Crown created the colonies, 
gave them governors, permitted the local assemblies to 
grow up, and directed the course of the colonial execu- 
tive by royal instructions. 

The agent of the sovereign in these matters was from 
1696 to 1760 the so-called Lords of the Board of Trade 
Means of and Plantations. This commission, appointed 
control. i^y |-|-jg Crown, corresponded with the govern- 

ors, made recommendations, and examined colonial laws. 
Through them were exercised the two branches of Eng- 
lish control. Governors were directed to carry out a spe- 
cified policy or to veto specified classes of laws. If they 



1750.] English Control. 17 

were disobedient or weak, the law might still be voided by 
a royal rescript. The attorneys-general of the Crown were 
constantly called on to examine laws with a view to their 
veto, and their replies have been collected in Chalmers's 
"Opinions," — a storehouse of material concerning the 
relations of the colonies with the home government. The 
process of disallowance was slow. Laws were therefore 
often passed in the colonies for successive brief periods, 
thus avoiding the effects of a veto ; or " Resolves " were 
passed which had the force, though not the name, of 
statutes. In times of crisis the Crown showed energy in 
trying to draw out the military strength of the colonies; 
but if the assemblies hung back there was no means of 
forcing them to be active. During the Stuart period the 
troubles at home prevented strict attention to colonial 
matters. Under the Hanoverian kings the colonies were 
little disturbed by any active interference. In one respect 
only did the home government press hard upon the colo- 
nies. A succession of Navigation Acts, beginning about 
1650, limited the English colonies to direct trade with the 
home countr}', in English or colonial vessels. Even be- 
tween neighboring English colonies trade was hampered 
by restrictions or absolute prohibitions. Against the legal 
right of Parliament thus to control the trade of the colo- 
nies the Americans did not protest. Protest was un- 
necessary, since in 1750 the Acts were systematically 
disregarded : foreign vessels carried freights to and from 
American ports; American goods were shipped direct to 
foreign countries (§ 23; Colonies, §§ 44, 128). 

9. Social and economic Conditions. 

Thus, partly from circumstances, and partly by their 
own design, the colonies in 1750 were developing a politi- 
cal life of their own. Changes of dynasties and of sov- 
ereigns or of ministers in England httle affected them. 
2 



1 8 The Americans in 1750. [§§9,10. 

In like manner their social customs were slowly changing. 
The abundance of land favored the growth of a yeoman 
class accustomed to take part in the govern- 
ment. Savage neighbors made necessary a 
rough military discipline, and the community was armed. 
The distance from England and an independent spirit 
threw great responsibility on the assemblies. The gen- 
eral evenness of social conditions, except that some men 
held more land than others, helped on a democratic spirit. 
The conditions of the colonies were those of free and in- 
dependent communities. On the other hand, colonial life 
was at best retired and narrow ; roads were poor, inns 
indifferent, and travelHng was unusual. The people had 
the boisterous tastes and dangerous amusements of fron- 
tiersmen. Outside of New England there were almost 
Intellectual ^^o schools, and in New England schools were 
^'^^- very poor. In 1750 Harvard, Yale, William 

and Mary, and the College of New Jersey (now Prince- 
ton) were the only colleges, and the education which they 
gave was narrower than that now furnished by a good 
high school. Newspapers were few and dull. Except in 
theology, there was no special instruction for professional 
men. In most colonies lawyers were lightly esteemed, 
and physicians little known. City life did not exist ; 
Philadelphia, Boston, New York, and Charleston were but 
provincial towns. The colonies had only three indus- 
tries, — agriculture, the fisheries, and shipping. Tobacco 
Economic had for more than a century been the staple 
conditions. export. Ncxt in importance was the New Eng- 
land fishery, employing six hundred vessels, and the 
commerce with the West Indies, which arose out of that 
industry. Other staple exports were whale products, 
bread-stuffs, naval stores, masts, and pig-iron. The total 
value of exports in 1750 is estimated at ^814,000. To 
carry these products a fleet of at least two hundred ves- 



1750.] Social and Economic. 19 

sels was employed ; they were built in the colonies north 
of Virginia, and most of them in New England. The 
vessels themselves were often sold abroad. With the 
proceeds of the exports the colonists bought the manu- 
factured articles which they prized. Under the Naviga- 
tion Acts these ought all to have come from England ; but 
French silks, Holland gin, and Martinique sugar somehow 
found their way into the colonies. The colonists and 
the home government tried to establish new industries 
by granting bounties. Thus the indigo culture in South 
Carolina was begun, and many unsuccessful attempts 
were made to start silk manufactures and wine raising. 
The method of stimulating manufactures by laying pro- 
tective duties was not unknown ; but England could not 
permit the colonies to discriminate against home mer- 
chants, and had no desire to see them establish by pro- 
tective duties competitors for English manufactures. 
Nevertheless, Pennsylvania did in a few cases lay low 
protective duties. Except for the sea-faring pursuits of 
the Northern colonies, the whole continental group was 
in the same dependent condition. The colonists raised 
their own food and made their own clothes ; the surplus 
of their crops was sent abroad and converted into manu- 
factured goods. 

10. Colonial Slavery. 

In appearance the labor system of all the colonies was 
the same. Besides paid white laborers, there was every- 
where a class of w-hite servants bound without 

Slave trade. c r ^ • 

wages for a term of years, and a more miser- 
able class of negro slaves. From Nova Scotia to Georgia, 
in all the West Indies, in the neighboring French and 
Spanish colonies, negro slavery was in 1750 lawful, and 
appeared to flourish. Many attempts had been made by 
colonial legislatures to cut off or to tax the importation of 



20 The Americans in 1750. [§ 10. 

slaves. Sometimes they feared the growing number of 
negroes, sometimes they desired more revenue. The 
legislators do not appear to have been moved by moral 
objections to slavery. Nevertheless, there was a striking 
difference between the sections with regard to slavery. 
In all the colonies north of Maryland the winters were so 
cold as to interfere with farming, and some different win- 
ter work had to be provided. For such variations of 
labor, slaves are not well fitted; hence there were but 
The sec- tvvo regions in the North where slaves were 
tions. profitably employed as field-hands, — on Narra- 

gansett Bay and on the Hudson: elsewhere the negroes 
were house or body servants, and slaves were rather an 
evidence of the master's consequence than of their value 
in agriculture. In the South, where land could be worked 
during a larger portion of the year, and where the con- 
ditions of life were easier, slavery was profitable, and the 
large plantations could not be kept up without fresh im- 
portations. Hence, if any force could be brought to bear 
against negro slavery it would easily affect the North, 
and would be resisted by the South ; in the middle colo- 
nies the struggle might belong; but even there slavery 
was not of sufficient value to make it permanent. 

Such a force was found in a moral agitation already 
under way in 1750. The Puritans and the Quakers both 
Anti-slavery Upheld principles which, if carried to their 
agitation. legitimate consequences, would do away with 
slavery. The share which all men had in Christ's saving 
grace was to render them brethren hereafter ; and who 
should dare to subject one to another in this earthly life? 
The voice of Roger Williams was raised in 1637 to ask 
whether, after " a due time of trayning to labour and re- 
straint, they ought not to be set free ? " " How cursed a 
crime is it," exclaimed old Sewall in 1700, "to equal men 
to beasts ! These Ethiopians, black as thev are, are sons 



1750.] Slavery. 21 

and daughters of the first Adam, brethren and sisters of 
the last Adam, and the offspring of God." On "2d mo. 
18, 1688," the Germantown Friends presented the first 
petition against slavery recorded in American liistory. 
By 1750 professional anti-slavery agitators like John Wool- 
man and Benezet were at work in Pennsylvania and New 
Jersey, and many wealthy Quakers had set free their 
slaves. The wedge which was eventually to divide the 
North from the South was already driven in 1750. In 
his great speech on the Writs of Assistance in 1761, 
James Otis so spoke that John Adams said : " Not a 
Quaker in Philadelphia, or Mr. Jefferson of Virginia, 
ever asserted the rights of negroes in stronger terms." 



22 Expulsion of the French. [§§ n, 



CHAPTER II. 
EXPULSION OF THE FRENCH (1750-1763). 



11. References. 

Bibliographies. — Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical His- 
tory, V. 560-622 ; Channing and Hart, G^iide, §§ 131-132. 

Historical Maps. — No. 2, this volume {Epoch Maps, No. 5) ; 
ljMitx\.on, Historical Atlas. Ixiii, ; B. A, W\\\%di'2\Q, Old Northwest, 
I. 38, 63 (republished from MacCoun, Historical Geography'); S. R. 
Gardiner, School Atlas, No. 45 ; Francis Parkman, Montcalm and 
Wolfe, frontispiece; Oldmixon, British Empire (1741) ; Mitchell's 
Map (1755); Evanses Map (1755); school histories of Channing, 
Johnston, Scudder, Thomas. 

General Accounts. — Geo, Bancroft, United States, III. chs. 
xxiii., xxiv., IV. (last revision, II. 419-565); R. Hildreth, United 
States, II. 433-513; W. E. H. Lecky, England in the Eighteenth 
Century, II. ch. viii., III. ch. x. ; B. A. Hinsdale, Old Northwest, 
eh. V. ; W. M. Sloane, French War and Revolution, ch. viii. ; Bry- 
ant and Gay, Popular History, III. 254-328; J.-R. Green, English 
People, IV. 166-218; Abiel Holmes, Afinals of America, II. 41-123; 
Geo. Chalmers, Revolt of the American Colonies, II, book ix. ch, xx,; 
T. Pitkin, Political and Civil History, I. 138-154. 

Special Histories. — Francis Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe 
(2 vols.), latest and best detailed account; G, Warburton, Co7iguest of 
Canada (1849); T. Mante, Late War (1772) ; W, B. Weeden, New 
England, II. chs, xvi., xvii. ; M, C, Tyler, American Literature, II, 
ch, xv'iii. ; Theodore Roosevelt, Wi'nning of the West, II. 

Contemporary Accounts. — John Knox, Historical Journal 
(1757-1760); Pouchot, Memoires (also in translation); Franklin, 
Works (especially on the Albany Congress); Washington, Works, 
especially his Journal (Sparks's edition, II. 432-447) ; Robert Rogers, 
Journal; Documents relative to the Colonial History of New York, 
X, — Reprints in American History told by Contemporaries, II. 



I690-I754-] Rival Claims. 23 

12. Rival Claims in North America (1690-1754). 

" The firing of a gun in the woods of North America 
brought on a conflict which drenched Europe in blood." 
Internation- In this rhetorical statement is suggested the 
al rivalry. result of a great change in American condi- 
tions after 1750. For the first time in the history of the 
colonies the settlements of England and France were 
brought so near together as to provoke collisions in time 
of peace. The attack on the French by the Virginia 
troops under Washington in 1754 was an evidence that 
France and England were ready to join in a struggle for 
the possession of the interior of the continent, even though 
it led to a general European war. 

The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748 (Colonies, § 112) 
had not laid down a definite line between the French and 
Le°al ar- the English possessions west of the mountains, 
guments. According to the principles of international 
law observed at the time of colonization, each power 
was entitled to the territory drained by the rivers falling 
into that part of the sea-coast which it controlled. The 
French, therefore, asserted a prima facie title to the 
valleys of the St. Lawrence and of the Mississippi (§ 2); 
if there was a natural boundary between the two powers, 
it was the watershed north and west of the sources of the 
St. John, Penobscot, Connecticut, Hudson, Susquehanna, 
Potomac, and James. On neither side had permanent 
settlements been established far beyond this irregular 
ridge. This natural boundary had, however, been disre- 
garded in the early English grants. Did not the charter 
of 1609 give to Virginia the territory "up into the land, 
from sea to sea, west and northwest " 1 (Colonies, § 29.) 
Did not the Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Carolina 
grants run westward to the " South Sea " ? And although 
these grants had lapsed, the power of the king to make 



24 Expulsion of the French. [§§ 12, 13. 

them was undiminished; the Pennsylvania charter, the 
latest of all, gave title far west of the mountains. 

To these paper claims were "aiclded arguments of con- 
venience : the Lake Champlain region, the southern trib- 
utaries of Lake Ontario, and the headwaters of 
xpe lency. ^^^ Qhio, were more easily reached from the 
Atlantic coast than by working up the rapids of the St. 
Lawrence and its tributaries, or against two thousand 
miles of swift current on the Mississippi. To the Anglo- 
Saxon hunger for more land was added the fear of Indian 
attacks; the savages were alarmed by the advance of 
settlements, and no principles of international law could 
prevent frontiersmen from exploring the region claimed 
by France, or from occupying favorite spots. There was 
no opportunity for compromise between the two parties ; 
agreement was impossible, a conflict was a mere matter of 
time, and the elaborate arguments which each side set 
forth as a basis for its claim were intended only to give 
the prestige of a legal title. In the struggle the English 
colonies had one significant moral advantage : they de- 
sired the land that they might occupy it ; the French 
wished only to hold it vacant for some future and remote 
settlement, or to control the fur-trade. 

13. Collisions on the Frontier (1749-1754). 

For many years the final conflict had been postponed 
by the existence of a barrier state, — the Iroquois, or Six 
Nations of Indians. This fierce, brave, and statesman- 
like race held a strip of the watershed from Lake Cham- 
plain to the Allegheny River. For many years 

The Iroquois. \, , j i u • . . -o ^' \ • a 

they had been subject to English influence, 
exercised chiefly by William Johnson ; but the undis- 
turbed possession of their lands was the price of their 
friendship. They held back the current of immigration 
through the Mohawk. They aimed to be the interme- 



^749-1753-] Collisions on the Frofttier. 25 

diary for the fur-trade from the northwest. They re- 
mained throughout the conflict for the most part neutral, 
but forced the contestants to carry on their wars east or 
south of them. 

Southwest of the territory of the Iroquois lay the re- 
gion of the upper Ohio and its tributaries, particularly 
the valleys of the Tennessee, the Muskingum, the Alle- 
gheny, the Monongahela and its mountain-descending 
tributary, the Youghioghany, of which the upper waters 
interlace with branches of the Potomac. In this rich 
country, heavily wooded and abounding in game, there 
were only a few Indians and no white inhabitants. In 
1749 France began to send expeditions through the Ohio 
valley to raise the French flag and to bury leaden 
plates bearing the royal arms. A part of the disputed re- 
gion was claimed by Pennsylvania as within her charter 
limits; Virginia claimed it, apparently on the convenient 
English principle that any unoccupied land adjacent to 
claims. ^gr territory was hers ; the English govern- 

ment claimed it as a vacant royal preserve ; and in 1749 
an Ohio company was formed with the purpose of erecting 
the disputed region into a " back colony." A royal grant 
of land was secured, and a young Virginian, named 
George Washington, was sent out as a surveyor. He 
took the opportunity to locate some land for himself, 
and frankly says that " it is not reasonable to suppose 
that those, who had the first choice, . . . were inattentive 
to . . . the advantages of situation." 

Foreseeing the struggle, the French began to construct 
a chain of forts connecting the St. Lawrence settlements 
Attempts with the Mississippi. The chief strategic point 
to occupy. ^^g ^^ tj^g junction of the Allegheny and 
Monongahela rivers, — the present site of Pittsburg. 
The Ohio company were first on the ground, and in 
1753 took steps to occupy this spot. They were backed 



26 Expulsion of the French. [§§ 13, 14. 

up by orders issued by the British government to the 
governors of Pennsylvania and Maryland " to repel force 
by force whenever the French are found within the un- 
doubted limits of their province." Thus the French and 
English settlements were brought dangerously near to- 
gether, and it was resolved by Virginia to send George 
Washington with a solemn warning to the French. In 
October, 1753, he set forth, and returned in December to 
announce that the French were determined to hold the 
country. They drove the few English out of their new 
post, fortified the spot, and called it Fort Duquesne. 
The crisis seemed to Benjamin Franklin so momentous 
that at the end of his printed account of the capture of 
the post he added a rude woodcut of a rattlesnake cut into 
thirteen pieces, with the motto, addressed to the colonies, 
" Join or die." 

This was no ordinary intercolonial difficulty, to be 
patched up by agreements between the frontier com- 
No com- manders. Both French and Enghsh officers 
promise. acted under orders from their courts. Eng- 
land and France were rivals, not only on the continent, 
but in the West Indies, in India, and in Europe. There' 
was no disposition either to prevent or to heal the breach 
on the Pennsylvania frontier. 

When Washington set out with a small force in April, 
1754, it was with the deHberate intention of driving the 
Washington French out of the region. As he advanced 
attacks. towards Fort Duquesne they came out to 

meet him. He was the quicker, and surprised the little 
expedition at Great Meadows, fired upon the French, 
and killed ten of them. A few days later Washington 
and his command were captured at Fort Necessity, and 
obliged to leave the country. As Half King, an Iroquois 
chief, said, " The French behaved like cowards, and the 
English like fools." The colonial war had begun. 



i753-'f755-] StrcngtJi of the Parties. 27 

Troops were at once despatched to America by both bel- 
hgerents. In 1755 hostilities also broke out between the 
two powers on the sea ; but it was not until May 18, 1756, 
that England formally declared war on France, and the 
Seven Years' War began in Europe. 

14. The Strength of the Parties (1754.) 

The first organized campaign in America was in 1755. 
Its effect was to show that the combatants were not far 
England ^'"O""' equally matched. France claimed the 
and France, position of the first European power : her 
army was large, her soldiers well trained ; her compara- 
tive weakness at sea was not yet evident. The English 
navy had been reduced to 17,000 men; the whole Eng- 
lish army counted 18,000 men, of whom there were in 
America but 1,000. Yet England was superior when it 
came to building ships, equipping troops, and furnishing 
money subsidies to keep her allies in the field. The ad- 
vantage of prestige in Europe was thrown away when 
France allied herself with her hereditary enemy, Austria, 
and thus involved herself in wars which kept her from 
sending adequate reinforcements to America, 

Until 1758 the war in the western world was fought 

on both sides chiefly by the colonists. Here the British 

, . Americans had a numerical advantage over the 

1 he colonies. ^ , . . , -» , . ^^ 

French. Agamst the 80,000 white Canadians 
and Louisianians they could oppose more than 1,100,000 
whites. Had the Enghsh colonists, like the Canadians, 
been organized into one province, they might have been 
successful within a year; but the freedom and local in- 
dependence of the fourteen colonies made them, in a mili- 
tary sense, weaker than their neighbors. In Canada there 
was neither local government nor public opinion; gov- 
ernors and intendants sent out from Paris ruled the 



28 Expulsion of the French. [§§ 14, 15. 

people under regulations framed in Paris for the benefit 
of the court centred in Paris. While the colonies with 
difficulty raised volunteer troops, the French commander 
could make a levee e)i masse of the whole adult male 
population. During the four campaigns from 1755 to 
1758 the Canadians lost little territory, and they were 
finally conquered only by a powerful expedition of British 
regular troops and ships. 

One reason for this unexpected resistance was the aid 
of the Indians. The Latin races have always had more 
influence over savage dependents than the 
Anglo-Saxon. The French knew how to use 
the Indians as auxiliaries by letting them make war on 
their own account and in their own barbarous fashion. 
Nevertheless the Indians did not fight for the mere sake 
of obliging the French, and when the tide turned, in 1759, 
Theatre ^hey were mostly detached. One other great 
of war. advantage was enjoyed by the French: their 

territory was difficult of access. The exposed coast was 
protected by the strong fortresses of Louisbourg and 
Quebec. On the east, in the centre, and on the Ohio 
they were in occupation and stood on the defensive. 
Acting on the interior of their line, they could mass 
troops at any threatened point. In the end their line 
was rolled up like a scroll from both ends. Louisbourg 
and Fort Duquesne were both taken in 1758, but Montreal 
was able to hold out until 1760. 

15. Congress of Albany (1754). 

Foreseeing a general colonial war; the Lords of Trade, 

in September, 1753, directed the colonial governors to 

Indian procure the sending of commissioners to Al- 

treaty. bany. The first purpose was to make a treaty 

with the Iroquois; but a suggestion was made in Amer- 



1754] Congress of Albany. 29 

ica that the commissioners also draw up a plan of colonial 
union. In June, 1754, a body of delegates assembled 
from the New England colonies, New York, Pennsyl- 
vania, and Maryland. The Indian treaty was duly 
framed, notwithstanding the ominous suggestion of one 
of the savages : " It is but one step from Canada hither, 
and the French may easily come and turn you out of 
Union your doors." On June 24 the Congress of 

proposed Albany adopted unanimously the resolution 
that "a union of all the colonies is at present absolutely 
necessary for their security and defence;" and that "it 
would be necessary that the union be established by Act 
of Parliament." 

Since the extinction of the New England Confederation 
in 1684 (Colonies, § 69) there had been no approach to 
any colonial union. The suggestions of William III., of 
the Lords of Trade, of ministers, of colonial governors, 
and of private individuals had remained without effect. 
Franklin's To Benjamin Franklin was committed the 
scheme. i2L^\i of drawing up a scheme which should at 

the same time satisfy the colonial assembhes and the 
mother government. The advantages of such an union 
were obvious. Combined action meant speedy victory; 
separate defence meant that much of the border would 
be exposed to invasion. Franklin hoped to take advan- 
tage of the pressure of the war to induce the colonies to 
accept a permanent union. His draft, therefore, pro- 
vided for a '* President General," who should have toward 
the union the powers usually enjoyed by a governor to- 
wards his colony- This was not unlike a project in view 
when Andros was sent over in 1685. The startling inno- 
vation of the scheme was a "Grand Council," to be 
chosen by the colonial assemblies. The duty of this 
general government was to regulate Indian affairs, make 
frontier settlements, and protect and defend the colo* 



30 Expidsion of the FrcncJi. [§§ 15, 1 6. 

nists. The plan grew upon Franklin as he considered 
it, and he added a scheme for general taxes, the funds to 
be raised by requisitions for specific sums on the separate 
colonial treasurers. 

The interest of the plan is that it resembles the later 
Articles of Confederation. At first it seemed likely to 
The union succccd ; none of the twenty-five members of 
fails. the congress seem to have opposed it, but not 

one colony accepted it. The charter and proprietary col- 
onies feared that they might lose the guaranty afforded 
by their existing grants. The new union was to be 
established by Act of Parliament. Of government by 
that body they knew little, and they had no disposition 
to increase the power of the Crown. The town of Boston 
voted " to oppose any plan of union whereby they shall 
apprehend the Liberties and Priviledges of the People 
are endangered." The British government also feared 
a permanent union, lest it teach the colonies their own 
strength in organization. The movement for the union 
had but the faint approval of the Lords of Trade, and 
received no consideration in England. As Franklin said : 
"The assemblies all thought there was too much pre- 
7'o^ative^ and in England it was thought to have too 
much of the deviocratic.'''' 

16. Military Operations (1755-1757). 

Washington's defeat in 1754 was followed by active mili- 
tary preparations on both sides. So far as the number of 
Character Campaigns and casualties goes, it was a war 
of the war of little significance; but it was marked by 
romantic incidents and heroic deeds. Much of the fight- 
ing took place in the forest. The Indians showed their 
characteristic daring and their characteristic unwilling- 
ness to stand a long-continued, steady attack. Their 



1754,1755-] Military Operations. 31 

scalping-knives and stakes added a fearful horror to 
many of the battles. On both sides the military policy 
seemed simple. The English must attack, ihe French 
must do their best to defend. The French were vulner- 
able in Nova Scotia and on the Ohio ; their centre also 
was pierced by two highways leading from the Hudson, 
— one through Lake Champlain, the other through the 
Mohawk and Lake Ontario, These four regions must be 
the theatre of war; and in 1755 the British government, 
seconded by the colonists, planned an attack on the four 
points simultaneously. 

The most difficult of the four tasks was the reduction 
of Fort Duquesne, and it was committed to a small force 
Braddock's ^f British regulars, with colonial contingents, 
expedition, under the command of General Braddock. 
The character of this representative of British military 
authority is summed up in a phrase of his secretary's : 
" We have a general most judiciously chosen for being 
disqualified for the service he is employed on in almost 
every respect." Before him lay three plain duties, — to 
co-operate with the provincial authorities in protecting 
the frontier, to impress upon the Indians the superior 
strength of the English, and to occupy the disputed ter- 
ritory. He did none of them. Among the provincials 
was George Washington, whose experience in this very 
region ought to have influenced the general ; but the 
latter obstinately refused to learn that the rules of war 
must be modified in a rough and wooded country, among 
frontiersmen and savage enemies. July 9, 1755, the ex- 
pedition reached a point eight miles from Fort Duquesne, 
As Braddock's little army marched forward, with careful 
protection against surprise, it was greeted with a vol- 
ley from 250 French Canadians and 230 Indian allies. 
Though the Canadians fled, the Indians stood their 
ground from behind trees and logs. The Virginians and 



32 Expulsion of the French. [§§ i6, 17. 

a few regulars took to trees also, but were beaten back 
by the oaths and blows of Braddock. " We w^ould fight," 
they said, "if we could see anybody to fight with." 
After three hours' stand against an invisible foe. Brad- 
dock's men broke and abandoned the field. Out of 
1,466 officers and men, but 482 came off safe. The rem- 
nant of the expedition fled, abandoned the country, left 
the frontier unprotected ; and over the road which they 
had constructed came a stream of marauding Indians. 

In the centre the double campaign was equally un- 
fruitful. On the borders of Nova Scotia the French forts 
-, , were captured. The victors felt unable to 

Removal '- 

of the hold the province, although it had been theirs 

cadians. gince 1713, except by removing the French 
Acadian inhabitants. It was a strong measure, carried 
out with severity. Six thousand persons were distributed 
among the colonies farther south, where their religion and 
their language both caused them to be suspected and often 
kept them from a livelihood. The justification was that 
the Acadians were under French influence, and were 
likely to be added to the fighting force of the enemy; the 
judgment of Parkman is that the " government of France 
began with making the Acadians its tools, and ended with 
making them its victims." 

The campaigns of 1756 and 1757 were like that of 1755. 
After the retreat of Braddock's expedition the frontier of 
Campaigns Virginia and Pennsylvania was left to the rav- 
of 1756, 1757. ages of the Indians. The two colonies were 
slow to defend themselves, and had no help from 
England. Systematic warfare was still carried on in 
the centre and in the East. The French, under the 
guidance of their new commander, Montcalm, lost no 
ground, and gained Oswego and Fort William Henry. 
The English cause in Europe was declining. In the 
Far East alone had great successes been gained ; and 



' 7 55-1 7 5^-] Military Operations. 33 

the battle of Plassey in 1757 gave to England the para- 
mount influence in India which she has ever since 
exercised. 

17. The Conquest of Canada (1756-1780). 

Few characters in history are indispensable. From 
William of Orange to William Pitt the younger there was 
William but one man without whom English history 

P'"- must have taken a different turn, and that 

was William Pitt the elder. In 1757 he came forward 
as a representative of the English people, and forced his 
way into leadership by the sheer weight of his character. 
He secured a subsidy for Prussia, which was desperately 
making head against France, Austria, and Russia in co- 
alition. He made a comprehensive plan for a combined 
attack on the French posts in America. He organized 
fleets and armies. He was able to break through the 
power of court influence, and to appoint efficient com- 
manders. The first point of attack was Louisbourg, the 
North Atlantic naval station of the French. Since its 
capture by the New Englanders in 1745 (Colonies, § 127) 
it had been strongly fortified. An English force under 
Campaign Amherst and Wolfe reduced it after a brief 
of 1758. siege in 1758. The attack through Lake 

George failed in consequence of the inefiiciency of the 
English commander, Abercrombie, but the Enghsh pene- 
trated across Lake Ontario and took Niagara. Nov. 25, 
1758, Fort Duquesne was occupied by the English, and 
the spot was named Pittsburg, after the great minister. 
For the first time the tide of war set inward towards 
the St. Lawrence. 

It is not evident that at the beginning the English ex- 
pected more than to get control of Lake Champlain and 
of the country south of Lake Erie. The successes of 1758 
led the way to the invasion, and eventually to the occu- 
3 



34 Expulsion of the French. [§§ 17, 18. 

pation, of the whole country. France sent thousands of 
troops into the European wars, but left the defence of its 
American empire to Montcalm with 5,000 regulars, 10,000 
Canadian militia, and a few thousand savage allies. 
England, meanwhile, was able to send ships with 9,000 
Capture of "i^n to take Quebec. No exploit is more re- 
Quebec, markable than the capture of that famous 
fortress. It was the key to the whole province ; it was 
deemed impregnable; it was defended by superior num- 
bers. The English, after vain attempts, were on the 
point of abandoning the siege. Wolfe's resolution and 
daring found a way over the cliffs ; and on the morn- 
ing of Sept. 13, 1759, t^^^ little English army was drawn 
up on the Plains of Abraham outside the landward forti- 
fications of the city ; the fate of Canada was decided in 
a battle in the open; the dying Wolfe defeated the 
dying Montcalm, and the town surrendered. The fall of 
the rest of Canada was simply a matter of time One 
desperate attempt to retake Quebec was made in 1760, 
but the force of Canada had spent itself. The 2,400 de- 
fenders of Montreal surrendered to 17,000 assailants. 
The colony of New France ceased to exist. For three 
years English military officers formed the only govern- 
ment of Canada. 

18, Geographical Kesults of the "War (1763). 

The conflict in Europe continued for three years after 
the colonial war was at an end. During 1758, 1759, ^^^*i 
European ^ 7^° Frederick the Second of Prussia had held 
w^''- his own, with English aid; he was now to lose 

his ally. The sudden death of George the Second had 
brought to the throne the first energetic sovereign since 
William the Third. An early public utterance of George 
the Third indicated that a new dynasty had arisen; 
" Born and bred in England, I glory in the name of 



1759-1763] ^^^^ ^^^^' ^nded, 35 

Briton." With no brilliancy of speech and no attrac- 
tiveness of person or manner, George the Third had a 
positive and forcible character. He resented 
eorge . ^^^^ control of the great Whig families, to 
whom his grandfather and great-grandfather had owed 
their thrones. He represented a principle of authority 
and resistance to the unwritten power of Parhament and 
to the control of the cabinet. He had virtues not inherited 
and not common in his time ; he was a good husband, a 
kind-hearted mail, punctilious, upright, and truthful. He 
had, therefore, a certain popularity, notwithstanding his 
narrow-mindedness, obstinacy, and arrogance. Resolved 
to take a personal part in the government of his country, 
he began by building up a party of the "king's friends," 
which later supported him in the great struggle with the 
colonies. In a word, George the Third attempted to re- 
store the Crown to the position which it had occupied 
under the last Stuart. Between such a king and the 
imperious Pitt there could not long be harmony. The 
king desired peace with all powers, and especially with 
The war France ; Pitt insisted on continuing aggres- 
coiiiinued. give war. In 1 761 Pitt was forced to resign, 
and Frederick the Second v/as abandoned. A change 
of sovereigns in Russia caused a change of policy, and 
Prussia was saved. Still peace was not made, and in 
1762 Spain joined with France in the war on England; 
but the naval supremacy of England was indisputable. 
The French West India Islands and Havana, the fortress 
of the Spanish province of Cuba, were taken ; and France 
was forced to make peace. 

In the negotiations the most important question w^as 
Question of the disposition of the English conquests in 
Annexations. America. Besides the Ohio country, the os- 
tensible object of the war, Great Britain held both Can- 
ada and the French West Indies. The time seemed 



36 Expulsion of the French. [§5 i8, 19, 

ripe to relieve the colonies from the dangers arising 
from the French settlements on the north, and the Span- 
ish colonies in Florida and Cuba. The ministry wav- 
ered between keeping Guadeloupe and keeping Can- 
ada; but if they were unable to deal with 8,000 Acadians 
in 1755, what should they do with 80,000 Canadians in 
1763? Was the inhospitable valley of the Lower St. 
Lawrence worth the occupation. And if the French were 
excluded from North America, could the loyalty of the 
colonies be guaranteed ? France, however, humbled by 
Canada ^^^ w^''' ^^^ forced to yield territory some- 

ceded, where ; Canada had long been a burden on 

the French treasury ; since concession must be made, 
it seemed better to sacrifice the northern colonies rather 
than the profitable West Indies. Choiseul, the French 
Minister of Foreign Affairs, therefore ceded to England 
all the French possessions east of the Mississippi except 
the tract between the Amitie and the Mississippi, in 
which lay the town of New Orleans. The island of Cape 
Breton went with Canada, of which it was an outlyer. 
The wound to the prestige of France he passed over 
with a jaunty apothegm : " I ceded it," he said, " on pur- 
pose to destroy the English nation. They were fond of 
American dominion, and I resolved they should have 
enough of it." 

Meanwhile, the Spaniards clamored for some compen- 
sation for their own losses. The English yielded up 
Louisiana Havana, and kept the two provinces of Florida 
ceded. lying along the Gulf ; and France transferred 
to Spain all the province of Louisiana not already given 
to England, that is, the western half of the Mississippi 
valley, and the Isle d'Orleans. The population was 
stretched along the river front of the Mississippi and its 
lower branches; it was devotedly French, and it was 
furious at the transfer. Of all her American possessions 



r;63.] Geographical Results. 37 

France retained only her West Indies and the insignih- 
cant islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon in the Gulf of 
St Lawrence. Thenceforward there were but two North 
American powers. Spain had all the continent from the 
Isthmus of Panama to the Mississippi, and northward to 
the upper v/atershed of the Missouri, and she controlled 
both sides of the Mississippi at its mouth. England had 
the eastern half of the continent from the Gulf to the 
Arctic Ocean, with an indefinite stretch west of Hudson's 
Bay. 

The interior boundaries of the English colonies were 
now defined by proclamations and instructions from Great 
Interior Britain. A colony of Canada was established 

boundaries, ^yhich included all the French settlements near 
the St. Lawrence. Cape Breton was joined to Nova 
Scotia. On the south Georgia was extended to the St.|'/ 
Mary's River. Florida was divided into two provinces 
by the Appalachicola. The interior country from Lake 
Ontario to the Gulf was added to no colony, and a special 
instruction forbade the governors to exercise jurisdiction 
west of the mountains. In Georgia alone did the gover- 
nor's command cover the region west to the Mississippi. 
The evident expectation was that the interior would be 
formed into separate colonies. 

19. The Colonies during the War (1754-1763). 

Seven years of war from 1754 to 1760, and two years 
more of military excitement, had brought about signifi 
Internal cant changes in the older colonies. It was 

quarrels. ^ period of great expenditure of men and 
money. Thirty thousand lives had been lost. The more 
vigorous and more exposed colonies had laid heavy taxes 
and incurred burdensome debts. The constant pressure 
of the governors for money had aggravated the old quar 



^S Expulsion of the FrencJi. [§§19,20. 

rels with the assemblies. The important towns were all 
on tide water, and not one was taken or even threatened ; 
hence the sufferings of the frontiersmen were not always 
appreciated by the colonial governments. In Pennsyl- 
vania the Indians were permitted to harry the frontier 
while the governor and the assembly were in a deadlock 
over the question of taxes on proprietary lands. Brad- 
dock's expedition in 1755 was intended to assert the claim 
of the English to territory in the limits of Pennsylvania ; 
but it had no aid from the province thus concerned. 
Twice the peaceful Franklin stepped forward as the 
organizer of military resistance. 

In the early part of the war Massachusetts took the 
lead, inasmuch as her governor, Shirley, was made com- 
English mander-in-chief. Military and civil control 

control. over the colonies was, during the war, divided 

in an unaccustomed fashion. The English commanders, 
and even Governor Dinwiddle, showed their opinion of 
the Provincials by rating all their commissions lower 
than those of the lowest rank of regular British officers. 
The consequence was that George Washington for a time 
resigned from the service. In 1757 there was a serious 
dissension between Loudoun and the Massachusetts as- 
sembly, because he insisted on quartering his troops in 
Boston. At first the colonies were called on to furnish 
contingents at their own expense: Pitt's more liberal 
policy was to ask the colonies to furnish troops, who 
were paid from the British military chest. New England, 
as a populous region near the seat of hostilities, made 
great efforts ; in the last three campaigns Massachu- 
setts kept up every year five to seven thousand troops, 
and expended altogether ^500,000. The other colonies, 
particularly Connecticut, made similar sacrifices, and the 
little colony of New York came out with a debt of 
$1,000,000. 



1754-^7^3-] Colonics during the War. 39 

As often happens during a war, some parts of the 
country prospered, notwithstanding the constant loss. 
Colonial '^^"^^ New England fisheries and trade were 

trade. little affected except when, in 1758, Loudoun 

shut up the ports by a brief embargo. As soon as 
Fort Duquesne was captured, settlers began to pass across 
the mountains into western Pennsylvania, and what is 
now Kentucky and eastern Tennessee. The Virginia 
troops received ample bounty lands ; Washington was 
shrewd enough to buy up claims, and located about 
seventy thousand acres. The period of 1760 to 1763 
was favorable to the colonies. Their trade with the 
West Indies was large. For their food products they 
got sugar and molasses ; from the molasses they made 
rum; with the rum they bought slaves in Africa, and 
brought them to the West Indies and to the continent. 
The New Englanders fitted out and provisioned the 
British fleets. They supplied the British armies in 
America. They did not hesitate to trade with the enemy's 
colonies, or with the enemy direct, if the opportunity 
offered. The conclusion of peace checked this brisk 
trade and commercial activity. When the war was ended 
the agreeable irregularities stood more clearly revealed. 

20. Political Effects of the "War (1763). 

In government as well as in trade a new era came to 
the colonies in 1763. Nine years had brought about 
Free from many changes in the social and political con- 
border wars, ditions of the people. In the first place, they 
no longer had any civilized enemies. The Canadians, 
to be sure, were still mistrusted as papists ; but though 
the colonists had no love for them, they had no fear of 
them; and twelve years later, at the outbreak of the 
Revolution, they tried to establish political brotherhood 
with them. The colonies were now free to expand west- 



40 Expulsion of the French. [§ 20. 

ward, or would have been free, except for the resistance 
of the Western Indians gathered about the Upper Lakes. 
Pontiac's ^^ ^7^3 Po^tiac Organized them in the most 
conspiracy, formidable Indian movement of American his- 
tory. He had courage; he had statesmanship; he had 
large numbers. By this time the British had learned the 
border warfare, and Pontiac was with difficulty beaten. 
From that time until well into the Revolution Indian 
warfare meant only the resistance of scattered tribes 
to the steady westward advance of the EngHsh. 

For the first time in their history the colonists had par- 
ticipated in large military operations. Abercrombie and 
Military Amherst each had commanded from twelve 
experience, to fifteen thousand men. The colonists were 
expert in fortification. Many Provincials had seen fight- 
ing in line and in the woods. Israel Putnam had been 
captured, and the fires lighted to burn him ; and Washing- 
ton had learned in the hard school of frontier warfare 
both to fight, and to hold fast without fighting. 

The war had further served to sharpen the political 
sense of the people. Year after year the assemblies had 
United t)een engaged in matters of serious moment, 

action. They laid heavy taxes and collected them; 

they discussed foreign policy and their own defence; 
they protested against acts of the British government 
which affected them. Although no union had been formed 
at Albany in 1754, the colonies had frequently acted 
together and fought together. New York had been in 
great part a community of Dutch people under Enghsh 
rule during the war; now, as most exposed to French 
attack, it became the central colony. Military men and 
civilians from the different colonies learned to know each 
other at Fort William Henry and at Crown Point. 

This unwonted sense of power and of common interest 
was increased by the pressure of the British government. 



1754-1763] Political Effects of the War. 41 

Just before the war broke out, plans had been set on foot 
in England to curb the colonies ; legislation was to be 
more carefully revised ; governors were to be 
British instructed to hold out against their assem- 

controi. blies; the Navigation Acts were to be en- 

forced. The scheme was dropped when the war began, 
because the aid of the colonies in troops and supplies was 
essential. Then arose two rival theories as to the nature 
of the war. The British took the ground that they were 
sending troops to protect the colonies from French inva- 
sion, and that all their expeditions were benefactions to 
Theory of the colonies. The colonists felt that they 
co-operation ^yere co-operating with England in breaking 
down a national enemy, and that all their grants were 
bounties. The natural corollary of the first theory was 
that the colonies ought at least to support the troops 
thus generously sent them ; and various suggestions look- 
ing to this end were made by royal governors. Thus 
Shirley in 1756 devised a general system of taxation, 
Proposed including import duties, an excise, and a poll- 
taxes, tax; delinquents to be brought to terms by 
" warrants of distress and imprisonment of persons." 
When, in 1762, Governor Bernard of Massachusetts prom- 
ised ;^4oo in bounties on the faith of the colony, James 
Otis protested that he had "involved their most darhng 
privilege, the right of originating taxes." On the other 
Navigation hand, the colonies systematically broke the 
Acts. Navigation Acts, of which they had never 
denied the legality. To organize the control over the 
colonies more carefully, to provide a colonial revenue for 
general colonial purposes, to execute the Navigation Acts, 
and thus to confine the colonial trade to the mother- 
country, — these were the elements of the English colonial 
policy from 1763 to 1775. Before these ends were ac- 
complished the colonies had revolted. 



42 Causes of the Revolution. [§§ 21, 22. 

CHAPTER III. 
CAUSES OF THE KEVOLUTION (1763-1765.) 



21. References. 

Bibliographies. — Justin Winsor, Hatidbook of the Revolution, 
1-25, and Narrative and Critical History, VI. 62-112 ; W. E. Foster, 
Monthly Refere?tce Lists, No. 79 ; Channing and Hart, Guide, §§ 
134-136. 

Historical Maps. — No. 2, this volume (Epoch Maps, No. 5) ; 
Labberton, Historical Atlas, Ixiv. ; Gardiner, School Atlas, No. 46 ; 
Francis Parkman, Pontiac, frontispiece; Putzger, Atlas, No. 21; 
B. A. Hinsdale, Old North-west, I. 68 (reprinted from MacCoun, 
Historical Geography). 

General Accounts. — R. Frothingham, Rise of the Republic, 
158-401 ; E. Channing, United States, 1765-1865, ch. ii. ; Geo. Ban- 
croft, United States (original ed.) V., VII, chs. i-xxvi (last revision 
III., IV. chs. i-viii.); W. E. H. Lecky, England in the Eighteenth 
Century, III. ch. xii. ; R. Hildreth, United States, II. 514-577; III. 
25-56 ; G. T. Curtis, Constittttiojial History, I. i. ; J. M. Ludlow, War 
of Independence, ch. iii ; Abiel Holmes, Afitials of America, 11. 124- 
198; Bryant and Gay, United States, III. 329-376; Justin Winsor, 
Narrative aiid Critical History, VI. ch. i. ; T. Pitkin, United States, 
I. 155-281 ; H. C. Lodge, Colonies, ch. xxiii. ; J. R. Green, English 
People, IV., 218-234 ; W. M. Sloane, French War and Revolution, 
chs. x.-xiv. ; Adolphus, England, II. 134-332 passim; Grahame, 
United States, IV. book xi. Biographies of John Adams, Samuel 
Adams, Otis, Dickinson, Hutchinson, Franklin, and Washington. 

Special Histories. — W. B. Weeden, Economic ajid Special His- 
tory of New England, II. chs. xviii., xix. ; Wm. Tudor, Life of fames 
Otis, J. K. Hosmer, Samuel Adams, 21-312 ; J. T. Morse, Benjamin 
Franklin, 99-201; M. C. Tyler, Literature of the Revolution, I., 
and Patrick Henry, 32-147 ; H. C. Lodge, George Washington, I. 
ch. iv. 

Contemporary Accounts. — Works of Washington, Franklin, 
Patrick Henry, and John Adams; James Otis, Rights of the B7'itish 
Colonies asserted and proved ; Examination of Franklin (Franklin, 
Works, IV. 161-195) ; W. B. Donne, Correspondence of George IH. 
with Lord North [i 768-1 783] ; John Dickinson, Farmers Letters ; 



1763.] Condition of tJie British Empire. 43 

Jonathan Trumbull, McF'mgal (epic poem) ; IMercy Warren, History 
of the Ajnerican Revolution ; Thomas Hutchinson, History of Afassa- 
chusetts, III., and Diary and Letters ; Joseph Galloway, Candid Ex- 
amination; Stephen Hopkins, Rights of the Colonies Examined. — 
Reprints in Library of American Literature, HI. ; Old South Leaf- 
lets ; American History told by Contetnporaries, II. 

22. The Condition of the British Empire (1763). 

In 1763 the English were the most powerful nation in 
the world. The British islands, with a population of but 
England's 8,000,000, were the administrative centre of a 
greatness. y^st colonial empire. Besides their American 
possessions, the English had a foothold in Africa through 
the possession of the former Dutch Cape Colony, and 
had laid the foundation of the present Indian Empire; 
small islands scattered through many seas furnished 
naval stations and points of defence. The situation of 
England bears a striking resemblance to the situation of 
Athens at the close of the Persian wars : a trading 
nation, a naval power, a governing race, a successful mili- 
tary people ; the English completed the parallel by tight- 
ening the reins upon their colonies till they revolted. Of 
the other European powers, Portugal and Spain still pre- 
served colonial empires in the West ; but Spain was 
decaying. Great Britain had not only gained territory 
and prestige from the war, she had risen rich and pros- 
perous, and a national debt of one hundred and forty 
million pounds was borne without serious difficulty. 

It was a time of vigorous intellectual life,- the period of 
Goldsmith, Edmund Burke, and Dr. Johnson. It was 
English 3^1so a period of political development. The 

government, conditions seemed favorable for internal peace 
and for easy relations with the colonies. The long Jaco- 
bite movement had come to an end ; George the Third 
was accepted by all classes and all parties as the legiti- 
mate sovereign. The system of government worked out 



44 Causes of the Revolution, [§§ 22, 23. 

in the preceding fifty years seemed well established ; the 
ministers still governed through their control of Parlia- 
ment ; but the great Tory families, which for two genera- 
tions had been excluded from the administration, were 
now coming forward. A new element in the government 
of England was the determination of George the Third 
to be an active political force. From his accession, in 
1 760, he had striven to build up a faction of personal ad- 
herents, popularly known as the " king's friends ; " and 
he had broken down every combination of ministers 
which showed itself opposed to him. Although the na- 
tion was not yet conscious of it, the forces were at work 
which eventually were to create a party advocating the 
king's prerogative, and another party representing the 
right of the English people to govern themselves. 

This change in political conditions could not but affect 
the English colonial policy. The king's imperious tone 
Effect on ''^^^ reflected in all departments, and was 
thecolouies. especially positive when the colonies began 
to resist. It cannot be said that English parties divided 
on the question of governing the colonies, but when the 
struggle was once begun, the king's bitterest opponents 
fiercely criticised his policy, and made the cause of the 
colonists their own. The great struggle with the colo- 
nies thus became a part of the struggle between popular 
and autocratic principles of government in England. 

23. New Schemes of Colonial Control (1763). 

Allusion has already been made (§ 19) to vague schemes 
^ .,, , of colonial control suggested during the war. 

Grenville's . t t n 

colonial More serious measures were impending. When 

po icy. George Grenville became the head of the cabi- 

net, in April, 1763, he took up and elaborated three dis- 
tinctly new lines of policy, which grew to be the direct 



1763.] Nezv Schemes of Colonial Control. 45 

causes of the American Revolution. The first was the 
rigid execution of the Acts of Trade ; the second was the 
taxation of the colonies for the partial support of British 
garrisons; the third was the permanent establishment of 
British troops in America. What was the purpose of 
each of these groups of measures ? 

The object of the first series was simply to secure obe- 
dience to the Navigation Acts (Colonies, §§ 44, 128), — 
Navigation ^^^'^'s long on the Statute book, and admitted by 
Acts. most Americans to be legal. The Acts were in- 

tended simply to secure to the mother-country the trade 
of the colonies ; they were in accordance with the practice 
of other nations ; they were far milder than the similar 
systems of France and Spain, because they gave to colo- 
nial vessels and to colonial merchants the same privileges 
as those enjoyed by English ship-owners and traders. 
The Acts dated from 1645, but had repeatedly been re-en- 
acted and enlarged, and from time to time more efficient 
provision was made for their enforcement. In the first 
place, the Navigation Acts required that all the colonial 
trade should be carried on in ships built and owned in 
England or the colonies. In the second place, most of 
the colonial products were included in a list of " enumer- 
ated goods," which could be sent abroad, even in English 
or colonial vessels, only to English ports. The intention 
was to give to English home merchants a middleman's 
profit in the exchange of American for foreign goods. 
Among the enumerated goods were tobacco, sugar, in- 
digo, copper, and furs, most of them produced by the 
tropical and sub-tropical colonies. Lumber, provisions, 
and fish were usually not enumerated ; and naval stores, 
such as tar, hemp, and masts, even received an English 
bounty. In 1733 was passed the " Sugar Act," by which 
prohibitory duties were laid on sugar and molasses im- 
ported from foreign colonies to the English plantations. 



46 Causes of the Revolution. [§§ 23, 24. 

Many of these provisions little affected the continental 
colonies, and in some respects were favorable to them. 
Effect of Thus the restriction of trade to English and 
the system, colonial vessels stimulated ship-building and 
the shipping interest in the colonies. From 1772 to 1775 
more than two thousand vessels were built in America. 

The chief difficulty with the system arose out of the 
obstinate determination of the colonies, especially in 
Illegal New England, to trade with their French and 

trade. Spanish neighbors in the West Indies, with or 

without permission: they were able in those markets to 
sell qualities of fish and lumber for which there was no 
demand in England. Well might it have been said, as a 
governor of Virginia had said a century earlier : " Mighty 
and destructive have been the obstructions to our trade 
and navigation by that severe Act of Parliament, ... for 
all are most obedient to the laws, while New England men 
break through them and trade to any place where their 
interests lead them to." The colonists were obliged to 
register their ships ; it was a common practice to register 
Difficulty of them at much below their actual tonnage, or 
enforcement, ^o omit the ceremony altogether. Colonial 
officials could not be depended upon to detect or to pun- 
ish infractions of the Acts, and for that purpose the 
English Government had placed customs officers in the 
principal ports. Small duties were laid on imports, not 
to furnish revenue, but rather to furnish fees for those 
officers. The amount thus collected was not more than 
two thousand pounds a year ; and the necessary salaries, 
aggregating between seven and eight thousand pounds, 
were paid by the British government. 

24. Writs of Assistance (1761-1764). 

Under the English acts violation of the Navigation 
Laws was smuggling, and was punishable in the usual 



1 761-1764.] Wrifs of Assistance. 47 

courts. Two practical difficulties had always been found 

in prosecutions, and they were much increased as soon 

as a more vi2:orous execution was entered 

Smuggling. \ A ^ -1 r 

upon. It was hard to secure evidence, for 
smuggled goods, once landed, rapidly disappeared ; and 
the lower colonial judges were loth to deal severely with 
their brethren, engaged in a business which public senti- 
ment did not condemn. In 1761 an attempt was made in 
Massachusetts to avoid both these difficulties through 
the use of the familiar Writs of Assistance. These 
were legal processes by which authority was given to 
custom-house officers to make search for smuggled goods ; 
since they were general in their terms and authorized 
the search of any premises by day, they might have been 
made the means of vexatious visits and interference. 
In February, 1761, an apphcation for such a writ was 
brought before the Superior Court of Massachusetts, 
which was not subject to popular influence. James Otis, 
Argument of advocate-general of the colony, resigned his 
James Otis, office rather than plead the cause of the gov- 
ernment, and became the leading counsel in opposition. 
The arguments in favor of the writ Avere that without some 
such process the laws could not be executed, and that 
similar writs were authorized by English statutes. Otis 
in his plea insisted that no English statute applied to the 
colonies unless they were specially mentioned, and that 
hence English precedents had no application. But he 
went far beyond the legal principles involved. He de- 
clared in plain terms that the Navigation Acts were " a 
taxation law made by a foreign legislature without our 
consent." He asserted that the Acts of Trade were 
"irreconcilable with the colonial charters, and hence were 
void." He declared that there were "rights derived only 
from nature and the Author of nature;" that they were 
" inherent, inalienable, and indefeasible by any laws. 



48 Causes of the Revolution. [§§ 24, 25. 

pacts, contracts, governments, or stipulations which man 
could devise." The court, after inquiring into the prac- 
tice in England, issued the writs to the custom-house 
officers, although it does not appear that they made use 
of them. 

The practical effect of Otis's speech has been much 
exaggerated. John Adams, who heard and took notes on 
Effect of the ^^^^ argument, declared, years later, that " Am- 
discussion. erican independence was then born," and that 
•'Mr. Otis's oration against Writs of Assistance breathed 
into this nation the breath of life." The community was 
not conscious at the time that a new and startling doc- 
trine had been put forth, or that loyalty to England was 
involved. The arguments drawn from the rights of man 
and the supremacy of the charters were of a kind familiar 
to the colonists. The real novelty was the bold applica- 
tion of these principles, the denial of the legality of a 
system more than a century old. 

So far w^as the home government from accepting these 
doctrines that in 1763 the offensive Sugar Act was re- 
Enforce- newed. New import duties were laid, and 
ment. more stringent provisions made for enforcing 

the Acts of Trade ; and the ground was prepared for a per- 
manent and irritating controversy, by commissioning the 
naval officers stationed on the American coast as revenue 
officials, with power to make seizures. 

25. The Stamp Act (1763-1765). 

The next step in colonial control met an unexpected 
and violent resistance. In the winter of 1763- 1764 Gren- 
Pianfora ville, then English prime minister, called to- 
stamp duty, gether the agents of the colonies and informed 
them that he proposed to lay a small tax upon the colo- 
nies, and that it would take the form of a stamp duty, 
unless they suggested some other method. Why should 



1763-1 765-] Stamp Act. 49 

England tax the colonies? Because it had been deter- 
mined to place a permanent force of about ten thousand 
Question of "^^^ in America. A few more English garri- 
troops. sons would have been of great assistance in 

1754; the Pontiac outbreak of 1763 had been suppressed 
only by regular troops who happened to be in the country ; 
and in case of later wars the colonies were likely to be 
attacked by England's enemies. On the other hand, the 
colonies had asked for no troops, and desired none. They 
were satisfied with their own halting and inefficient means 
of defence ; they no longer had French enemies in Canada, 
and they felt what seems an unreasonable fear that the 
troops would be used to take away their liberty. From 
the beginning to the end of the struggle it was never pro- 
posed that Americans should be taxed for the support of 
the home government, or even for the full support of the 
colonial army. It was supposed that a revenue of one 
hundred thousand pounds would be raised, which would 
meet one-third of the necessary expense. 

Notwithstanding colonial objections to a standing 
army, garrisons would doubtless have been received but 
Stamp Act ^or the accompanying proposition to tax. On 
passed. March 10, 1764, prehminary resolutions passed 

the House of Commons looking towards the Stamp Act. 
There was no suggestion that the proposition was illegal; 
the chief objection was summed up by Beckford, of Lon- 
don, in a phrase : " As we are stout, I hope we shall be 
merciful." 

The news produced instant excitement in the colonies. 
First was urged the practical objection that the tax would 
draw from the country the little specie which it con- 
tained. The leading argument was that taxation without 
representation was illegal. The remonstrances, by an 
error of the agents who had them in charge, were not pre- 
sented until too late. Franklin and others protested to 
4 



50 Causes of the Revolution, [§§ 25, 26 

the ministry, and declared the willingness of the colonies 
to pay taxes assessed in a lump sum on each colony. 
Grenville silenced them by asking in what way those 
lump sums should be apportioned. After a short debate 
in Parliament the Act was passed by a vote of 205 to 49. 
Barrd, one of the members who spoke against it, alluded 
to the agitators in the colonies as "Sons of Liberty;" 
the phrase was taken up in the colonies, and made a party 
war-cry. George the Third was at that moment insane, 
and the Act was signed by a commission. 

Resistance in the colonies was not expected. Frank- 
lin thought that the Act would go into effect ; even Otis 
Expectations Said that it Ought to be obeyed^ It laid a 
of success. moderate stamp-duty on the papers necessary 
for legal and commercial transactions. At the request of 
the ministry, the colonial agents suggested as stamp col- 
lectors some of the most respected and eminent men in 
each colony. Almost at the same time was passed an act 
somewhat relaxing the Navigation Laws ; but a Quartering 
Act was also passed, by which the colonists were obliged, 
even in time of peace, to furnish the troops who might 
be stationed among them with quarters and with certain 
provisions. 

26. The Stamp Act Congress (1765.) 

Issue was now joined on the question which eventually 
separated the colonies from the mother-country. Par- 
liament had asserted its right to lay taxes on 

Internal =* •' 

andexter- the colonists for imperial purposes. The colo- 
nal taxes. ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^.^ ^j^^^^ ^-iqIqI governmental 

relations only with the Crown, from whom came their 
charters. They had escaped taxation because they were 
poor, and because hitherto they had not occasioned se- 
rious expense ; but they had accepted the small import 
duties. They found it hard to reconcile obedience to 



1765.J Stamp Act resisted. 51 

one set of laws with resistance to the other ; and they 
therefore insisted that there was a distinction between 
" external taxation " and " internal taxation," between 
duties levied at the ports and duties levied within the 
colonies. 

The moment the news reached America, opposition 
Remon- Sprang up in many different forms. The colo- 
strances. nial legislatures preferred dignified remon- 
strance. The Virginia Assembly reached a farther point 
in a set of bold resolutions, passed May 29, 1765, un- 
der the influence of a speech by Patrick Henry, They 
asserted "that the General Assembly of this colony have 
the only and sole exclusive right and power to lay taxes 
and impositions upon the inhabitants of this colony;" 
and that the Stamp Act " has a manifest tendency to de- 
stroy British as well as American freedom." On June 8, 
1765, Massachusetts suggested another means of remon- 
strance, by calling upon her sister colonies to send dele- 
gates to New York " to consider of a general and united, 
dutiful, loyal, and humble representation of their con- 
dition to his Majesty and to the Parliament." 

Meanwhile opposition had broken out in open violence. 
In August there were riots in Boston ; the 
house of Oliver, appointed as collector of the 
stamp taxes, was attacked, and he next day resigned 
his office. Hutchinson was acting governor of the col- 
ony : his mansion was sacked ; and the manuscript of his 
History of Massachusetts, still preserved, carries on its 
edges the mud of the Boston streets into which it was 
thrown. The town of Boston declared itself "particu- 
larly alarmed and astonished at the Act called the Stamp 
Act, by which we apprehend a very grievous tax is to be 
Non-im- ^^^^ Upon the colonies." In other colonies 
portation there were similar, though less violent, scenes. 
Still another form of resistance was suggested by the 



52 Causes of the Revolution. [§§26,2/. 

organizations called " Sons of Liberty," the members of 
which agreed to buy no more British goods. When the 
time came for putting the act into force, every person 
appointed as collector had resigned. 

These three means of resistance — protest, riots, and 
non-importation — were powerfully supplemented by the 
Stamp Act congress which assembled at New York, Oct. 
Congress. 7^ 1 765. It included some of the ablest men 
from nine colonies. Such men as James Otis, Livingston 
of New York, Rutledge of South Carolina, and John Dick- 
inson of Pennsylvania, met, exchanged views, and prom- 
ised co-operation. It was the first unmistakable evidence 
that the colonies would make common cause. After a 
session of two weeks the congress adjourned, ha\nng 
drawm up petitions to the English government, and a 
*' Declaration of Rights and Grievances of the Colonists 
in America." In this document they declared themselves 
entitled to the rights of other Englishmen. They as- 
serted, on the one hand, that they could not be repre- 
sented in the British House of Commons, and on the 
other that they could not be taxed by a body in which 
they had no representation. They complained of the 
Stamp Act, and no less of the amendments to the Acts 
of Trade, which, they said, would " render them unable 
to purchase the manufactures of Great Britain." In 
these memorials there is no threat of resistance, but the 
general attitude of the colonies showed that it w^as unsafe 
to push the matter farther. 

Meanwhile the Grenville ministr}- had given place to 
another Whig ministry under Rockingham, who felt no 
Repeal of the responsibility for the Stamp Act. Pitt took the 
Stamp Act. ground that " the government of Great Britain 
could not lay taxes on the colonies." Benjamin Frank- 
lin was called before a committee, and urged the with- 
drawal of the act. The king, who had now recovered his 



1765-1767] Stamp Act Congress. 53 

health, gave it to be understood that he was for repeal 
The repeal bill was passed by a majority of more than 
two to one, and the crisis was avoided. 

To give up the whole principle seemed to the British 
government impossible ; the repeal was therefore accom- 
panied by the so-called Dependency Act. This 
talfation set forth that the colonies are "subordinate 
asserted. ^^^^ ^^^ dependent upon the Imperial Crown 
and Parliament of Great Britain, and that Parliament 
hath, and of right ought to have, full power to make laws 
and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind the col- 
onies and people of America subjects to the Crown of Great 
Britain in all cases whatsoever." Apparently matters 
had returned to their former course. The gratitude of 
the colonies was loudly expressed ; but they had learned 
the effect of a united protest, they had learned how to 
act together, and they were irritated by the continued 
assertion of the power of Parhament to tax and otherwise 
to govern the colonies. 

27. Revenue Acts (1767). 

The repeal of the Stamp Act removed the difficulty 
without removing the cause. The year 1766 was marked 
in English politics by the virtual retirement of Pitt from 
the government. His powerful opposition to taxation of 
Townshend's the colonies was thus removed, and Charles 
plans. Townshend became the leading spirit in the 

ministry. Jan. 26, 1767, he said in the House of Com- 
mons : " I know a mode in which a revenue may be 
drawn from America without offence. . . . England is un- 
done if this taxation of America is given up." And he 
pledged himself to find a revenue nearly sufficient to 
Quarrel with nieet the military' expenses in America. At 
New York, t^ig moment that the question of taxation was 
thus revived, the New York Assembly became involved 



54 Causes of the Revolution. [§§27,28. 

in a dispute with the home government by dechning to 
furnish the necessary suppHes for the troops. An Act of 
ParHament was therefore passed declaring the action 
of the New York legislature null, — a startling assertion 
of a power of disallowance by Parliament. 

The three parts of the general scheme for controlHng 
the colonies were now all taken up again. For their ac- 
Enforce- tion against the troops the New York Assenv 
nient. \^\^ ^^g suspended, — the first instance in 

which Parliament had undertaken to destroy an effective 
part of the colonial government. For the execution of 
the Navigation Acts a board of commissioners of customs 
was established, with large powers. In June, 1767, a new 
Taxation Act was introduced, and rapidly passed through 
Parliament. In order to avoid the objections to "inter- 
nal taxes," it laid import duties on glass, red 
and white lead, painters' colors, paper, and 
tea. The proceeds of the Act, estimated at ^40,000, 
were to pay governors and judges in America. Writs of 
Assistance were made legal. A few months afterwards, 
— December, 1767, — a colonial department was created, 
headed by a secretary of state. The whole machinery of 
an exasperating control was thus provided. 

Issue was once more joined both in England and Amer- 
ica on the constitutional power of taxation. The great 
principle of English law that taxation was not a right, but 
a gift of the persons taxed through their representatives, 
Ou stion ^^^ claimed also by the colonies. Opinions 
of right of had repeatedly been given by the law officers 
of the Crown that a colony could be taxed 
only by its own representatives. The actual amount of 
money called for was too small to burden them, but it 
was to be applied in such a way as to make the governors 
and judges independent of the assemblies. The principle 
of taxation, once admitted, might be carried farther. As 



1767,1768.] Revenue Aets and Protests. 55 

an English official of the time remarked : " The Stamp 
Act attacked colonial ideas by sap ; the Tovvnshend 
scheme was attacking them by storm every day." 



28. Colonial Protests and Repeal (1767-1770). 

This time the colonies avoided the error of disorderly 
or riotous opposition. The leading men resolved to act 
Colonial together through protests by the colonial leg- 
protests, islatures and through non-importation agree- 
ments. Public feeling ran high. In Pennsylvania John 
Dickinson in his '•' Letters of a Farmer" pointed out that 
" English history affords examples of resistance by 
force." Another non-importation scheme was suggested 
by Virginia, but was on the whole unsuccessful. In 
February, 1768, Massachusetts sent out a circular letter 
to the other colonies, inviting concerted protests, and de- 
Massa- claring that the new laws were unconstitu- 

chusetts tional. The protest was moderate, its pur- 

pose legal ; but the ministry attempted to 
destroy its effect by three new repressive measures. The 
first of them, April, 1768, directed the governors, upon 
Coercive ^^y attempt to pass protesting resolutions, to 
measures. prorogue their assemblies. The second was 
the despatch of troops to Boston : they arrived at the 
end of September, and remained until the outbreak of the 
Revolution. The third coercive step was a proposition to 
send American agitators to England for trial, under an 
obsolete statute of Henry the Eighth. 

Meanwhile the duties had been levied. The result was 
the actual payment of about sixteen thousand pounds ; 
Effect of this sum was offset by expenses of collection 
the tax. amounting to more than fifteen thousand 

pounds, and extraordinary military expenditures of one 
hundred and seventy thousand pounds. Once more the 



56 Causes of the Revolution. [§§ 28, 29. 

ministry found no financial advantage and great practical 
difficulties in the way of colonial taxation. Once more 
they determined to withdraw from an untenable position, 
and once more, under the active influence of the king 
and his "friends," they resolved to maintain the principle. 
In April, 1770, all the duties were repealed except that 
upon tea. Either the ministry should have appHed the 
principle rigorously, so as to raise an adequate revenue, 
or they should have given up the revenue and the principle 
together. 

29. Spirit of Violence in the Colonies (1770-1773). 

Repeal could not destroy the feeling of injury in the 
minds of the colonists ; and repeal did not withdraw 
Troops in the coercive acts nor the troops. The garri- 
Boston. sQj^ jj;j Boston, sustained at the expense of the 

British treasury, was almost as offensive to the colonists 
of Massachusetts as if they had been taxed for its sup- 
port. From the beginning the troops were looked upon 
as an alien body, placed in the town to execute unpopular 
and even illegal acts. There was constant friction be- 
tween the oilicers and the town and colonial 

Collision 

with the governments, and between the populace and 
'"°'^" the troops. On the night of March 5, 1770, 

an affray occurred between a mob and a squad of sol- 
diers. Both sides were abusive and threatening ; finally the 
soldiers under great provocation fired, and killed five 
men. The riot had no poli'iical significance; it was 
caused by no invasion upon the rights of Americans : 
but, in the inflamed condition of the public mind, it was 
instantly taken up, and has gone down to history under 
the undeserved title of the Boston Massacre, Next morn- 
ing a town meeting unanimously voted "that nothing can 
rationally be expected to restore the peace of the town 
and prevent blood and carnage but the immediate re* 



1770-1773-] spirit of Violence, 57 

moval of the troops." The protest was effectual ; the 
troops were sent to an island in the harbor ; on the other 
hand, the prosecution of the soldiers concerned in the 
affray was allowed to slacken. For nearly two years the 
trouble seemed dying down in Massachusetts. 

That friendly relations between the colonies and the 
mother-country were not re-established is due chiefly to 
Samuel Samuel Adams, a member of the Massachu- 

Adams. getts General Court from Boston. His strength 

lay in his vehemence, his total inability to see more than 
one side of any question, and still more in his subtle influ- 
ence upon the Boston town meeting, upon committees, and 
in private conclaves. He seems to have determined from 
the beginning that independence might come, ought to 
come, and must come. In November, 1772, he introduced 
into the Boston town meeting a modest proposition that " a 
Committee Committee of correspondence be appointed . . . 
ofCorrespon- to State the Rights of the Colonists and of this 
Province in particular as Men, as Christians, 
and as Subjects ; — and also request of each Town a free 
communication of their Sentiments on this subject." The 
committee blew the coals by an enumeration of rights 
and grievances ; but its chief service was its unseen but 
efficient work of correspondence, from town to town. A 
few months later the colony entered into a similar scheme 
for communication with the sister colonies. These com- 
mittees of correspondence made the Revolution possible. 
They disseminated arguments from province to prov- 
ince : they had lists of those ripe for resistance; they 
sounded legislatures ; they prepared the organization 
which was necessary for the final rising of 1774 and 1775. 

Shortly before the creation of this committee, an act of 
violence in Rhode Island showed the hostility to the en- 
forcement of the Acts of Trade. • The " Gaspee," a royal 
vessel of war, had interfered legally and illegally with the 



58 Causes of tJie Revohition. [§§29,30. 

smuggling trade. On June 9, 1772, while in pursuit of a 
vessel, she ran aground. That night the ship was at- 
♦' Gaspee " tacked by armed men, who captured and burned 
burned. \^^x. The colonial authorities Were indifferent : 

the perpetrators were not tried; they were not prosecuted; 
they were not even arrested. On Dec. 16, 1773, a similar 
act of violence marked the opposition of the colonies to 
the remnant of the Townshend taxation acts. The tea 
duty had been purposely reduced, till the price of tea was 
lower than in England. Soon after the ap- 

Tea . • 

pointment of the Committees of Correspon- 
dence public sentiment in Massachusetts was again 
aroused by the publication of letters written by Hutchin- 
son, then governor of Massachusetts, to a private corre- 
Hutchinson spondent in England. The letters were such 
letters. ^s any governor representing the royal author- 

ity might have written. " I wish," said Hutchinson, " the 
good of the colony when I wish to see some fresh restraint 
of liberty rather than the connection with the parent state 
should be broken." The assembly petitioned for the 
removal of Hutchinson, and this unfortunate quarrel was 
Boston one of the causes of a decisive step, the 

Tea-party. Boston Tea-party. An effort was made to 
import a quantity of tea, not for the sake of the tax, 
but in order to relieve the East India Company from 
financial difficulties. On December 16, the three tea 
ships in the harbor were boarded by a body of men in 
Indian garb, and three hundred and forty-two chests of 
tea were emptied into the sea. Next morning the shoes 
of at least one reputable citizen of Massachusetts were 
found by his family unaccountably full of tea. In other 
parts of the country, as at Edenton in North Carolina, 
and at Charleston in South Carolina, there was similar 
violence. 



1772-1 774-] Resistance and Coercion, 59 

30. Coercive Acts of 1774. 
The British government had taken a false step by its 

_ ... Ici^islation of 1770, but the colonies had now 

Public ^ , . 1 1 , 

feeling in put tliemselves in the wrong by these repeated 

"^ ^" ■ acts of violence. There seemed left but two al- 
ternatives, — to withdraw the Tea Act, and thus to remove 
the plea that Parliament was taxing v/ithout represen- 
tation ; or to continue the execution of the Revenue Act 
firmly, but by the usual course of law. It was not in the 
temper of the English people, and still less like the king, 
to withdraw offensive acts in the face of such daring 
resistance. The failure to secure the prosecution of the 
destroyers of the " Gaspee " caused the British government 
to distrust American courts as well as American juries. 
One political writer, Dean Tucker, declared that the 
American colonies in their defiant state had ceased to 
be of advantage to England, and that they had better be 
allowed quietly to separate. Pitt denied the right to tax, 
but declared that if the colonies meant to separate, he 
would be the first to enforce the authority of the mother- 
country. 

Neither orderly enforcement, conciliation, nor peaceful 
Coercive Separation was the policy selected. England 
statutes. committed the fatal and irremediable mistake 

of passing illegal statutes as a punishment for the illegal 
action of the colonists. Five bills were introduced and 
hastily pushed through Parliament. The first was meant 
as a punishment for the Tea-party. It enacted that no 
further commerce was to be permitted with the port of 
Boston till that town should make its submission. Burke 
objected to a bill "which punishes the innocent with the 
guilty, and condemns without the possibility of defence." 
The second act was intended to punish the whole com- 
monwealth -of Massachusetts, by declaring void certain 



6o Causes of the Revolution. [§§30- 3^ 

provisions of the charter granted by William III. in 1692. 
Of all the grievances which led to the Revolution this was 
the most serious, for it set up the doctrine that charters 
proceeding from the Crown could be altered by statute. 
Thenceforward Parliament was to be omnipotent in colo- 
nial matters. The third act directed that " Persons ques- 
tioned for any Acts in Execution of the Law" should be 
sent to England for trial. It was not intended to apply 
to persons guilty of acts of violence, but to officers or 
soldiers who, in resisting riots, might have made them- 
selves amenable to the civil law. The fourth act was a 
new measure providing for the quartering of soldiers upon 
the inhabitants, and was intended to facilitate the estab- 
lishment of a temporary military government in Massa- 
chusetts. The fifth act had no direct reference 
Que ec c • ^Q Massachusetts, but was later seized upon as 
one of the grievances which justified the Revolution. This 
was the Quebec Act, providing for the government of the 
region ceded by France in 1763. It gave to the French 
settlers the right to have their disputes decided under the 
principles of the old French civil law; it guaranteed 
them the right of exercising their own religion; and it 
annexed to Quebec the whole territory between the Ohio 
and Mississippi Rivers and the Great Lakes. The pur- 
pose of this act was undoubtedly to remove the danger of 
disaffection or insurrection in Canada, and at the same 
time to extinguish all claims of Connecticut, Massachu- 
setts, and Virginia to the region west of Pennsylvania. 

31. The First Continental Congress (1774). 
The news of this series of coercive measures was hardly 
Gage's received in Massachusetts before General Gage 

^^di Massa- appeared, bearing a commission to act as gov- 
chusetts. ernor of the province ; and in a few weeks the 
Port Bill and the modifications of the charter were put in 



I774J Coercive Acts. — Congress. 6i 

force. If the governor supposed that Boston stood alone, 
he was quickly undeceived. From the other towns and 
from other colonies came supplies of food and sympathetic 
resolutions. On June 17th, under the adroit management 
of Samuel Adams, the General Court passed a resolution 
proposing a colonial congress, to begin September ist at 
Philadelphia. While the resolutions were going through, 
the governor's messenger in vain knocked at the locked 
door, to communicate a proclamation dissolving the as- 
sembly. The place of that body was for a time taken by the 
Committee of Correspondence, in which Samuel Adams 
was the leading spirit, and by local meetings and conven- 
tions. In August, Gage came to an open breach with the 
people. In accordance with the Charter Act, he proceeded 
to appoint the so-called " mandamus " councillors. An 
irregularly elected Provincial Congress declared that it 
stood by the charter of 1692, under which the councillors 
were elected by the General Court. The first effect of 
the coercive acts was, therefore, to show that the people 
of Massachusetts stood together. 

Another effect was to enlist the sympathy of the 
Delegates Other colonies. The movement for a congress 
chosen. plainly looked towards resistance and revolu- 

tion. In vain did the governors dissolve the assemblies 
that seemed disposed to send delegates. Irregular con- 
gresses and conventions took their place, and all the col- 
onies but Georgia somehow chose delegates. The first 
Continental Congress which assembled in Philadelphia 
The on September 5, 1774, was, therefore, a body 

Congress. without any legal status. It included, how- 
ever, some of the most influential men in America. 
From Massachusetts came Samuel Adams and John 
Adams; from New York, John Jay; from Virginia, Pat- 
rick Henry and George Washington. The general par- 
ticipation in this congress was an assurance that all 



62 Causes of the RciwhUioii. [§§31,32. 

America felt the danger of parliamentary control, and 
the outrage upon the rights of their New England 
brethren. 

This feeling was voiced in the action of the Congress. 
Early resolutions set forth approval of the action of 
Declaration Massachusetts. Then came the preparation of 
of Rights. a " Declaration of Rights " of the colonies, and 
of their grievances. They declared that they were enti- 
tled to life, liberty, and property, and to the rights and 
immunities of free and natural born subjects within the 
realm of England. They denied the right of the British 
Parliament to legislate in cases of " taxation and internal 
polity," but " cheerfully consent to the operation of such 
Acts of the British Parliament as are bo7ia fide restrained 
to the regulation of our external commerce." They pro 
tested against "the keeping up a standing army in these 
colonies in times of peace." They enumerated a long 
list of illegal Acts, including the coercive statutes and the 
Quebec Act. 

The only action of the First Continental Congress which 
had in any degree the character of legislation was the 
The Asso- " Association," — the only effective non-impor- 
ciation. tation agreement in the whole struggle. The 

delegates united in a pledge that they would import 
no goods from England or other English colonies, and par- 
ticularly no slaves or tea ; and they recommended to the 
colonies to pass efficient legislation for carrying it out. 
The Revolutionary "congresses" and "conventions," and 
sometimes the legislatures themselves, passed resolutions 
and laid penalties. A more effective measure was open 
violence against people who persisted in importing, selling, 
or using British goods or slaves. 

The First Continental Congress was simply the mouth- 
piece of the colonies. It expressed in unmistakable 
terms a determination to resist w^hat they considered ag- 



A 



1 774-] First Continental Congress. 63 

gressions; and it suggested as a legal and effective means 
of resistance that they should refuse to trade with the 
Action of mother-country. Its action, however, received 
the Congress. ^^ approval of an assembly or other repre- 
sentative body in each of the twelve colonies. Before it 
adjourned, the congress prepared a series of addresses 
and remonstrances, and voted that if no redress of griev- 
ances should have been obtained, a second congress 
should assemble in May, 1775. 

32. Outbreak of Hostilities (1775). 

When Parliament assembled in January, 1775, it was 
little disposed to make concessions ; but the greatest liv- 
Attitiide of ^^^& Englishman now came forward as the de- 
the Whigs, fender of the colonies. Pitt declared that the} 
matter could only be adjusted on the basis " that taxation ij 
is theirs, and commercial regulation ours." Although he ' 
was seconded by other leading Whigs, the reply of the 
Tory ministry to the remonstrance of the colonies was 
a new series of acts. Massachusetts was de- 
clared in a state of rebellion ; and the recal- 
citrant colonies were forbidden to trade with Great 
Britain, Ireland, or the West Indies, or to take part in the 
Newfoundland fisheries. 

Before these acts could be known in America, matters 
had already drifted to a point where neither coercion nor 
conciliation could effect anything. Through the winter 
Affairs in °^ 1 774-1 775 Gage lay for the most part 
Massachu- in Boston, unable to execute his commission 
^"^"^^ outside of his military lines, and unwilling to 

summon a legislature which was certain to oppose him. 
The courts were broken up, jurors could not be obtained, 
the whole machinery of government was stopped. Mean- 
while, in February, 1775, the people had a second time 



64 Causes of the Revohitio7c. [§§ 32, 33. 

elected a provincial congress, which acted for the time 
being as their government. This body prepared to raise 
a military force, and asked aid of other New England 
Lexington colonies. April 19, 1775, a British expedition 
and Concord, -^as Sent from Boston to Lexington and Con- 
cord to seize military stores there assembled for the use 
of the provincial forces. The British were confronted on 
the village green of Lexington by about one hundred rni- 
tiamen, who refused to disperse, and were fired upon by 
the British. At Concord the British found and destroyed 
the stores, but were attacked* and obliged to retire, and 
finally returned to Boston wnth a loss of three hundred 
men. The war had begun. Its issue depended upon the 
moral and military support which Massachusetts might 
receive from the other colonies. 



33. Justification of the Revolution. 

The cause of Massachusetts was unhesitatingly taken 
up by all the colonies, from New Hampshire to Georgia. 
Malcontents America was united. This unanimity pro- 
put down, ceeded, however, not from the people, but 
from suddenly constituted revolutionary governments. 
No view of the Revolution could be just which does not 
recognize the fact that in no colony was there a large 
majority in favor of resistance, and in some the patriots 
were undoubtedly in a minority. The movement, started 
by a few seceders, carried with it a large body of men 
who were sincerely convinced that the British govern- 
ment was tyrannical. The majorities thus formed, 
silenced the minority, sometimes by mere intimidation, 
sometimes by ostracism, often by flagrant violence. One 
kind of pressure was felt by old George Watson of 
Plymouth, bending his bald head over his cane, as his 
neighbors one by one left the church in which he sat, 



1775] Outbreak of the Revolution. 65 

because they would not associate with a " mandamus 
councillor," A different argument was employed on 
Judge James Smith of New York, in his coat of tar and 
feathers, the central figure of a shameful procession. 

Another reason for the sudden strength shown by the 
Revolutionary movement was that the patriots were or- 
Earlyor- gauizcd, and the friends of the established 
ganization. government did not know their own strength. 
The agent of British influence in almost every colony 
was the governor, In 1775 the governors were all driven 
out. There w^as no centre of resistance about which the 
loyalists could gather. The patriots had seized the reins J 
of government before their opponents fairly understoodj 
that they had been dropped. 

Another influence which hastened the Revolution was 
a desire to supplant the men highest in ofiicial life. 
^ ,. ^ There was no place in the colonial g-overn- 

Feehtig of 

common ment for a Samuel Adams or a John Adams 
interest while the Hutchinsons and the OHvers were 

preferred. But no personal ambitions can account for 
the agreement of thirteen colonies having so many points 
of dissimilarity. The merchants of Boston and New 
Haven, the townsmen of Concord and Pomfret, the farm- 
ers of the Hudson and Delaware valleys, and the aristo- 
cratic planters of Virginia and South Carolina, deliber- 
ately went to war rather than submit. The causes of 
the Revolution were general, were wide-spread, and w^ere 
keenly felt by Americans of every class. 

The grievance most strenuously put forward was that 
of " taxation without representation." On this point the 
Resistance colonists wcre Supported by the powerful au- 
to taxation, thority of Pitt and other English statesmen, 
and by an unbroken line of precedent. They accepted 
" external taxation ; " at the beginning of the struggle they 
professed a willingness to pay requisitions apportioned 
S 



66 Causes of the Revolution, [§33 

in lump sums on the colonies ; they were accustomed to 
heavy taxation for local purposes ; in the years imme- 
diately preceding the Revolution the people of Massachu- 
setts annually raised about ten shillings per head. They 
sincerely objected to taxation of a "new kind, for a pur- 
pose which did not interest them, by a power which they 
could not control. The cry of " Taxation without rep- 
resentation " had great popular effect. It was simple, it 
was universal, it sounded like tyranny. 

A greater and more keenly felt grievance was the 
establishment of garrisons. The colonies were wilHng to 
Resistance ^'^^ ^'^^^'^ ^^^'^ ^i^k of enemies. They asserted 
to garrisons, that the real purpose of the troops was to over- 
awe their governments. The despatch of the regiments 
to Boston in 1768 was plainly intended to subdue a tur- 
bulent population. The British government made a 
serious mistake in insisting upon this point, whether with 
or without taxes. 

By far the most effective cause of the Revolution was 
the English commercial system. One reason why a tax 
„ . , was felt to be so great a hardship was, that 

Resistance , ^ . ^ . ■,. 

to Acts of the colonies were already paymg a heavy mdi- 
^^^ ^' rect tribute to the British nation, by the limi- 

tations on their trade. The fact that French and Spanish 
colonists suffered more than they did, was no argument 
to Englishmen accustomed in most ways to regulate 
themselves. The commercial system might have been 
enforced ; perhaps a tax might have been laid : the two 
together made a grievance which the colonies would not 
endure. 

The coercive acts of 1774 gave a definite object for 
the general indignation. In altering the government of 
Stand for Massachusetts they destroyed the security of 
the charters. ^11 the colonies. The Crown was held unable 
to withdraw a privilege once granted ; Parliament might, 



1775] Justificatio7i of the Revolution. 6y 

however, undo to-morrow what it had done to-day. The 
instinct of the Americans was for a rigid constitution, 
unalterable by the ordinary forms of law. They were 
right in calling the coercive acts unconstitutional. They 
were contrary to the charters, they were contrary to pre- 
cedent, and in the minds of the colonists the charters and 
precedent, taken together, formed an irrepealable body 
of law. 

In looking back over this crisis, it is difficult to see 
that the colonists had suffered grievous oppression. The 
Oppression taxes had not taken four hundred thousand 
not grievous, pounds out of their pockets in ten years. The 
armies had cost them nothing, and except in Boston had 
not interfered with the governments. The Acts of Trade 
were still systematically evaded, and the battle of Lex- 
ington came just in time to relieve John Hancock from 
the necessity of appearing before the court to answer to a 
charge of smuggling. The real justification of the Rev- 
olution is not to be found in the catalogue of grievances 
drawn up by the colonies. The Revolution was right 
because it represented two great principles of human pro- 
gress. In the first place, as the Americans grew in impor- 
tance, in numbers, and in wealth, they felt more and more 
Restraints indignant that their trade should be hampered 
on trade. for the benefit of men over seas. They repre- 
sented the principle of the right of an individual to the 
products of his own industry ; and their success has 
opened to profitable trade a thousand ports the world 
over. In the second place the Revolution was a resis- 
j^ . fance to arbitrary power. That arbitrary 

to one-man powcr was exerciscd by the Parliament of 
power Great Britain ; but, at that moment, by a 

combination which threatened the existence of popular 
government in England, the king was the ruling spirit 
over Parliament. The colonists represented the same 



68 Causes of the Revohitio7i. [§§ 33, 34. 

general principles as the minority in England. As Sir 
Edward Thornton said, when minister of Great Britain 
to the United States, in 1879: "Englishmen now under- 
stand that in the American Revolution you were fighting 
our battles." 



1775-1783-] Bibliography of the Revolution. 69 

CHAPTER IV. 
UNION AND INDEPENDENCE (1775-1783). 

34. References. 

Bibliographies. — Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical His- 
tory^W. passim, VII. 1-214, VIII. App. ; and Readers^ Handbook of 
the Revolution ; W. F. Allen, History Topics, 107, 108 ; W. E. Foster, 
References to the Constitution of the United States, 11-14; Chan- 
ning and Hart, Guide, §§ 136-141. 

Historical Maps. — Nos. 2 and 3 this volume {Epoch Maps,^os. 
4 and 5); H. C. Lodge, Colonies, frontispiece; Scribner, Statistical 
Atlas, PI. 12; Rhode, Atlas, No. xxviii,; Geo. Bancroft, United 
States (original edition), V. 241 ; Labberton, Atlas, Ixiv. ; B. A. 
Hinsdale, Old Northwest, I. 176, 180 (republished from T. Mac- 
Coun, Historical Geography) ; List of contemporary maps in Winsor, 
Handbook, 302 ; school histories of Channing, Johnston, Scudder, 
Thomas. 

General Accounts. — G. T. Curtis, Constitutional History, I. 
chs. i.-iv. (History of the Constitution, I. 28-123); W. E. H. Lecky, 
England in the Eighteenth Century, IV. ch. iv. ; Geo. Bancroft, 
United States, VII. chap, xxvii, (last revision. IV. chs, ix.-xxviii., 
v.); R. Hildreth, United States, IV. ^7-2,73-, 411-425, 440-444; 
Edward Channing,' Uiiited States, 1765-1865, ch. iii. ; W. M. Sloane, 
French War and Revohdion. chs. xviii.-xxiv. ; H. C. Lodge, George 
Washington, I. chs. v-xi ; Abiel Holmes, Anjials of America, II. 
199-353; Bryant and Gay, United States, III. 377-623, IV. 1-74; 
Justin Winsor, Narrative atid Critical History, VI. chs. ii.-ix,, VII. 
chs. i., ii. ; J. R. Green, English People, IV. 254-271 ; Adolphus, 
England, II. 333-433, passim; Story, Commentaries, §§ 198-217; 
T. Pitkin, United States, I. 282-422, II. 37-153. 

Special Histories. — G. W. Greene, Historical View ; R. Froth- 
ingham, Rise of the Republic, 403-568; John Fiske, American Revo- 
lution ; J. M. Ludlow, War of American Independence, chs. v.-viii. ; 
Geo. Pellew, John Jay, 59-228; E. J. Lowell, Hessians ; Charles 
Borgeaud, Rise of Modern Democracy ; M. C. Tyler, Literature of 
the Revolution, II.; L. Sabine, American Loyalists; H. B. Carring- 
ton, Battles of the Resolution ; W. B. Weeden, N^cw England, II. 
chs. XX., xxi.; W. G. Sumner, Financier and Finances of the Amer- 
ican Revolution. 



70 Union and Independence. [§§ 34, 35. 

Contemporary Accounts. — Journals of Congress; Secret 
Jourttals of Congress ; works and full biographies of the Revolution- 
ary statesmen ; Peter Force, America7t Archives ; Jared Sparks, Cor- 
respondence of the Revolution; F. Wharton, Diplomatic Corre- 
spondence; John Adams and Abigail Adams, Familiar Letters ; 
Tom. Paine, Common Sense ; Crevecoeur, Letters from an American 
Farmer \i']']o-\^Z\\\ J. Anbury, Travels [1776-17S1]; Chastellux, 
Voyage de Newport [also in translation, 1780-1781]: W. B. Donne, 
Correspo)idence of George IH. with Lord North [i 768-1 783] ; Francis 
Hopkins, Essays and Writings ; Philip Freneau, Poems; Baroness 
Riedesel, Letters a7id Memoirs. — Reprints in Niles, Principles and 
Acts of the Revolution ; D. R. Goodloe, Bi7-th of the Repi/ilic, 205- 
353; Mathew Carey, Remembrancer : Frank Moore, Diary of the 
American Revohition ; Old South Leaflets ; American History told 
by Contemporaries^ II. 

35. The Strength of the Combatants (1775). 

When we compare the population and resources of 
the two countries, the defiance of the colonists seems 
Power almost foolhardy. In 1775 England, Ireland, 

of Great and Scotland together had from eight to ten 
million souls ; while the colonies numbered but 
three millions. Great Britain had a considerable system 
of manufactures, and the greatest foreign commerce in the 
world, and rich colonies in every quarter of the globe 
poured wealth into her lap. What she lacked she could 
buy. In the year 1775 the home government raised ten 
million pounds in taxes, and when the time came she 
was able to borrow hundreds of millions : in all the colo- 
nies together, two million pounds in money was the utmost 
that could be raised in a single year by any system of 
taxes or loans. In 1776 one hundred and thirty cruisers 
and transports brought the British army to New York : 
the whole American navy had not more than seventeen 
vessels. In moral resources Great Britain was decidedly 
stronger than America. Parliament was divided, but the 
king was determined. On Oct. 15, 1775, he wrote: 
"Every means of distressing America must meet with 



I775-] StrcngtJi of the Conibataiits. 71 

my concurrence." Down to 1778 the war was popular 
in England, and interfered little with her prosperity. 

How was it in America? Canada, the Floridas, the 
West Indies, and Nova Scotia held off. Of the three 
Weakness millions of population, five hundred thousand 
of America were negro slaves, carried no muskets, and 
caused constant fear of revolt. John Adams has said 
that more than a third part of the principal men in America 
were throughout opposed to the Revolution ; and of those 
who agreed with the principles of the Revolution, thou- 
sands thought them not worth fighting for. There were 
rivalries and jealousies between American public men and 
between the sections. The troops of one New England 
State refused to serve under officers from another State. 
The whole power of England could be concentrated upon 
the struggle, and the Revolution would have been crushed 
in a single year if the eyes of the English had not been 
so blinded to the real seriousness of the crisis that they 
sent small forces and inefiicient commanders. England 
was at peace with all the world, and might naturally 
expect to prevent the active assistance of the colonies by 
any other power. 

When the armies are compared, the number and en- 
thusiasm of the Americans by no means made up for the 
The two difference of population. On the average, 
armies. 33,ooo men were under the American colors 

each year ; but the army sometimes fell, as at the battle 
of Princeton, Jan. 2, 1777, to but 5,000. The English had 
an average of 40,000 troops in the colonies, of whom 
from 20,000 to 25,000 might have been utilized in a single 
military operation; and in the crisis of the general Euro- 
pean war, about 1780, Great Britain placed 314,000 troops 
under arms in different parts of the world. The efficiency 
of the American army was very much diminished by the 
fact that two kinds of troops were in service, — the Con- 



72 Union and Independence. [§§ 35, 36. 

tinentals, enlisted by Congress ; and the militia, raised 
by each colony separately. Of these militia, New Eng- 
land, with one fourth of the population of the country, 
furnished as many as the other colonies put together. 
The British were able to draw garrisons from other parts 
of the world, and to fill up gaps with Germans hired like 
horses ; yet, although sold by their sovereign 
at the contract price of thirty-six dollars per 
head, and often abused in service, these Hessians made 
good soldiers, and sometimes saved British armies in 
critical moments. Another sort of aliens were brought 
into the contest, first by the Americans, later by the 
^ ^. Endish. These were the Indians. They 

Indians. *. ,,., . ri,.i 

were mtractable m the service of both sides, 
and determined no important contest ; but since the 
British were the invaders, their use of the Indians com- 
bined with that of the Hessians to exasperate the Ameri- 
cans, although they had the same kind of savage allies, 
and eventually called in foreigners also. In discipline 

the Americans were far inferior to the Eng- 
Disciphne. ^.^^^ General Montgomery wrote: "The 
privates are all generals, but not soldiers;" and Baron 
Steuben wrote to a Prussian officer a little later: "You 
say to your soldier, ' Do this,' and he doeth it ; but I am 
obliged to say to mine, ' This is the reason why you 
ought to do that,' and then he does it." The British 
officers were often incapable, but they had a military 
training, and were accustomed to require and to observe 
discipline. The American officers came in most cases 
from civil life, had no social superiority over their men, 
and were so unruly that John Adams wrote in 1777: 
" They quarrel like cats and dogs. They worry one 
another like mastiffs, scrambling for rank and pay like 
apes for nuts." 

The success of the Revolution was, nevertheless, due to 



177 5-] ^'^^ Armies. 73 

the personal qualities of these officers and their troops, 
when directed by able commanders. In the early stages 
(-0^, of the war the British generals were slow, timid, 

manders. unready, and inefficient. Putnam, Wayne, 
Greene, and other American generals were natural sol- 
diers ; and in Washington we have the one man who 
never made a serious blunder, who was never frightened, 
who never despaired, and whose unflinching confidence 
was the rallying point of the military forces of the nation. 

The theatre of the war was more favorable to the Brit- 
Plans of ish than to the Americans. There were no 
campaign. fortresses, and the coast was everywhere open 
to the landing of expeditions. The simplest military 
principle demanded the isolation of New England, the 
source and centre of the Revolution, from the rest of the 
colonies. From 1776 the British occupied the town of 
New York, and they held Canada. A combined military 
operation from both South and North would give them 
the valley of the Hudson. The failure of Burgoyne's 
expedition in 1777 prevented the success of this manoeu- 
vre. The war was then transferred to the Southern colo- 
nies, with the intention to roll up the line of defence, as 
the French line had been rolled up in 1758; but when- 
ever the British attempted to penetrate far into the coun- 
try from the sea-coast, they were eventually worsted and 
driven back. 

36. The Second Continental Congress (1775). 
Before the war could be fought, some kind of civil 
organization had to be formed. On May 10, 
^oncep^ion ^jy^^ three weeks after the battle of Lexing- 
gress." ^Qj^^ ^Y\Q second Continental Congress assem- 

bled in Philadelphia, and continued, with occasional ad- 
journments, till May i, 1781. To the minds of the men 
of that day a congress was not a legislature, but a diplo- 



74 Union and Independence. [§§36,37 

matic assembly, a meeting of delegates for conference, 
and for suggestions to their principals. To be sure, this 
Congress represented the people, acting through popular 
conventions, and not the old colonial assemblies ; yet 
those conventions assumed to exercise the powers of gov- 
ernment in the colonies, and expected the delegates to 
report back to them, and to ask for instructions. Never- 
theless, the delegates at once began to pass resolutions 
which were to have effect without any ratification by 
the legislatures. Of the nine colonies which gave formal 
instructions to their representatives, all but one directed 
them to "order" something, or to "determine'" some- 
thing, or to pass "binding" Acts. 

Thus Congress began rather as the adviser than as the 
Advisory director of the colonies ; but it advised strong 
action. measures. On May 30, 1775, ^ pl^^^ of con- 

ciliation suggested by Lord North v/as pronounced 
" unreasonable and insidious." On the request of the 
provincial congress of Massachusetts Bay, it recom- 
mended that body to " form a temporary colonial gov- 
ernment until a governor of his Majesty's appointment 
will consent to govern the colony according to its char- 
ter." June 12, Congress issued a proclamation recom- 
mending "a day of public humiliation, fasting, and 
prayer." Like the First Continental Congress, it framed 
several petitions and addresses to the British people and 
to the king of Great Britain. During the first six weeks 
of its existence, therefore, the Second Continental Con- 
gress acted chiefly as the centre for common consultation, 
and as the agent for joint expostulation. 



37. The National Government formed (1775). 

The situation rapidly passed beyond the stage of ad- 
vice. The people of Massachusetts and the neighboring 



»775J Second Continental Congress. 75 

colonies, on their own motion, had shut up tae governor of 
^^^.^^ the colony and his troops in the town of Bos- 

Massachu- ton, and were formally besieging him. On 
^^"^" June 17 the British made their last sortie, and 

attacked and defeated the besieging forces at Bunker 
Hill. Neither the country nor Congress could long stand 
still. Precisely a week after assembling, Congress voted 
that certain commerce " must immediately cease." A 

National ^^^^ ^^^^^' ^^^ ^^' ^^^^^ " R^solved, unani- 
military mously, that the militia of New York be 

measures. armed and trained . . . to prevent any attempt 
that may be made to gain possession of the town; " and 
on June 14 the momentous resolution was reached that 
"an American continental army should be raised." On 
the following day George Washington, Esq., of Virginia, 
"was unanimously selected to command all the continen- 
tal forces raised or to be raised for the defence of Ameri- 
can liberty." In October the fitting out of a little navy 
and the commissioning of privateers were authorized. 

These acts were acts of war such as up to this time had 
been undertaken only by individual colonies or by the 
home government. They were, further, acts of united 
resistance, and in form they pledged the whole country 
to the establishment of a military force, and the mainte- 
nance of hostihties until some accommodation could be 
reached. 

In other directions the Continental Congress showed 
similar energy. November 29, 1775, "a Committee of 
National Correspondence with our friends abroad" was 
diplomacy. ordered, and thus began the foreign relations 
of the United States of America. National ambassadors 
were eventually sent out ; no colony presumed to send its 
own representative across the sea; foreign affairs from 
this time on were considered solely a matter for the Con- 
tinental Congress. In like manner. Congress quietly took 



'J^ Union and Independe^ice. lllVl^l^- 

up most of the other matters which had been acknowl- 
edged up to this time to belong to the home government. 
Congress assumed the control of the frontier Indians, till 
this time the wards of England. The post- 
national office had been directed b}' English author- 
powers, j^y . (;;Qngi-ess took it over. The boundaries 
and other relations of the colonies had been strictly regu- 
lated by the home government ; Congress undertook to 
mediate in boundary disputes. Parliament had controlled 
trade ; Congress threw open American ports to all foreign 
nations, and prohibited the slave-trade. In financial 
matters Congress went far beyond any powers ever exer- 
cised by England. June 22 it ordered an issue of two 
million dollars in continental paper currency, and sub- 
scriptions to national loans were opened both at home 
and abroad. 

This assumption of powers is the more remarkable 
since their exercise by England had caused the Revolu- 
Basisof ^^^'^^ 'T^^ right to raise money by national 
national authority, the right to maintain troops without 

authority. , •' . ® , . . , , . , 

the consent of the colonies, and the right to 
enforce regulations on trade, — these were the three dis- 
puted points in the English policy of control. They 
were all exercised by the Continental Congress, and ac- 
cepted by the colonies. In a word, the Continental Con- 
gress constituted a government exercising great sovereign 
powers. It began with no such authority; it never re- 
ceived such authority until 1781. The war must be fought, 
the forces of the people must be organized; there was no 
other source of united power and authority ; without for- 
mally agreeing to its supremacy, the colonies and the people 
at large acquiesced, and accepted it as a government. 

For the carrying out of great purposes Congress 
was singularly inefficient. The whole national govern- 
ment was composed of a shifting body of representatives 



^775] National Goveniment formed. 77 

elected from time to time by the colonial or State legisla- 
tures. It early adopted the system of forming executive 
. . committees out of its own number: of these 

Organization 

of the gov- the most important was the Board of War, 
ernment. ^£ which Johu Adams was the most active 
member. Later on, it appointed executive boards, of 
which some or all the members were not in Congress : 
the most notable example was the Treasury Office of 
Accounts. Difficult questions of prize and maritime law 
arose ; and Congress established a court, which was only 
a committee of its own members. In all cases the com- 
mittees, boards, or officials were created, and could be 
removed, by Congress. The final authority on all ques- 
tions of national government in all its forms was simply 
a majority of colonies or States in the Continental 
Congress. 

38. Independence declared (1776). 

Under the direction of Congress and the command of 
General Washington the siege of Boston was success- 
fully pushed forward during the winter of 
towards in- 1 775-76. From the beginning of the struggle 
ependence. ^^ ^^^j^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^ political Currents had been 

running side by side, — the one towards a union of the 
colonies, the other towards independence. Of these the 
current of union had run a little faster. Notwithstanding 
the authority which they had set over themselves, the 
colonies still professed to be loyal members of the Brit- 
ish empire. To be sure, there is a strong smack of insin- 
cerity in the protestations poured forth by the assemblies 
and the second Continental Congress. But John Adams 
says : " That there existed a general desire of indepen- 
dence of the Crown in any part of America before the 
Revolution, is as far from the truth as the zenith is from 
the nadir." Yet Patrick Henry declared as early a^ W 



yS Union and Independence. [§38. 

September, 1774, that " Government is dissolved. Fleets 
and armies and the present state of things show that 
government is dissolved. We are in a state of nature, 
sir. ... All America is thrown into one mass." 

From the moment that the Second Continental Con- 
gress had ordered the colonies to be put in a state of 
defence, either independence must come, or 
Hesitation, ^y^^ colonies must submit. No far-seeing 
man could expect that England would make the conces- 
sions which the colonies declared indispensable. Yet 
for more than a year Congress hesitated to declare pub- 
licly that the Americans would not return to obedience. 
As forgiving and loyal subjects of a king misled by 
wicked advisers, they still seemed supported by precedent 
and acting on the rights of Englishmen. Suggestions 
were made throughout 1775 looking towards independ- 
c ,■ ence. Thus the New Hampshire Revolution- 

buggestion ^ 

of indepen- ary Convention declared that " the voice of 
God and of nature demand of the colonies to 
look to their own political affairs." In May, 1775, came 
the resolutions of a committee of Mecklenburg County, 
North Carolina. In declaring that the government of the 
colonies had ceased to exist, they were probably not differ- 
ent in spirit from many other resolutions passed by like 
bodies. On July 8, 1775, Congress sent its last formal 
petition to the Crown. In it "Your Majesty's faithful 
subjects " set forth " the impossibility of reconciling the 
usual appearance of respect with a just Attention to our 
own preservation against those artful and cruel Enemies 
who abuse your royal Confidence and Authority for the 
Purpose of effecting our destruction." Congress was 
determined to wait until the petition had been received. 
On the day when it was to have been handed to the king, 
appeared a royal proclamation announcing that open and 
armed rebellion was going on in America. 



i775> 5776.] liidepejidcjice declared. 79 

The news of the fate of the petition reached Philadel- 
phia on October 31, The hesitation of Congress was 
Congress ^^ an end. Three days later it resolved to 
determined, recommend the people of New Hampshire to 
estabhsh their own government. The next day similar 
advice was given to South Carolina, with the promise of 
continental troops to defend the colony. Here for the 
first time was an official recognition of the fact that the 
colonies stood no longer under English control. It was 
an assertion that independence existed, and the steps 
towards a formal declaration were rapid. 

In this as in other similar crises Congress waited to find 
out the wish of the colonial legislatures. By May 15, 1776, 
T , the opinion of so many colonies had been 

Indepen- ^ -' 

deuce de- received in favor of a declaration of indepen- 
dence that Congress voted, " That it is neces- 
sary that the exercise of every kind of authority under 
the Crown of Great Britain should be totally suppressed." 
Congress was now committed •, and during the next few 
weeks the form of the declaration w^as the important 
question for discussion. Throughout the country, reso- 
T. , ,. lutions in favor of independence were passed 

Declaration ^ ^ 

of Indepen- by legislatures, conventions, and public meet- 
^^^^' ings. On July 4, 1776, Congress adopted a 

solemn Declaration of Independence. Like the statement 
of grievances of 1765 and the declaration of 1774, this 
great state paper, drawn by the nervous pen of Thomas 
Jefferson, set forth the causes of ill-feeling toward Great 
Britain. First comes a statement of certain self-evident 
Rights of truths, a reiteration of those rights of man 
'"^"- upon which Otis had dwelt in his speech of 

1 761. Then follows an enumeration of grievances put 
forward in this crisis as their justification in the face of 
the world ; yet of the twenty-nine specifications of oppres- 
sive acts, not more than five were manifestly illegal ac- 



8o Union and Independence. [§§ 38, 39. 

cording to the prevailing system of English law. So far 
as the Declaration of Independence shows, liberality and 
concession on the part of England might even then have 
caused the Revolution to halt. 

Another part of the Declaration is a statement that 

" These United Colonies are free and independent states, 

, dissolved from all allee;iance to Great Britain, 

Assertion of , , , ° . ,, t 

indepen- and have the powers of sovereign states. In 
dence. form and spirit this clause does not create 

independent states, but declares that they are already 
independent. Independence in no wise changed the 
status or character of the Continental Congress : it con- 
tinued to direct military operations and foreign negotia- 
tions, to deal with the Indians, and to regulate national 
finances. The immediate effect of the Declaration of 
Independence was that it obliged every American to take 
sides for or against the Revolution. No one could any 
longer entertain the delusion that he could remain loyal 
to Great Britain while making war upon her. It was, 
therefore, a great encouragement to the patriots, who 
speedily succeeded, in most colonies, in driving out or 
silencing the loyalists. There is a tradition that another 
member of Congress said to Franklin at this time, " We 
must all hang together." "Yes," replied Franklin, "we 
must all hang together, or we shall all hang separately." 

39. New State Governments formed (1775-1777). 

A practical result of the Declaration of Independence 
was that from that day each colony assumed the name 
, , ,, . of State ; and the union changed its name of 

Is the Union ,, _^, xt . ■> ^ ^ • -i, i t • ^ e 

older than " The United Colonies ' to the proud title ot 
the States? u ^he United States of America." Were the 
new States essentially different from the colonies ? This 
is one of the insoluble questions connected with the for- 



^77S-^777-^ New State Governments. 8 1 

mation of the Union. Calhoun later declared that the 
Declaration of Independence changed the colonies from 
provinces subject to Great Britain to States subject to 
nobody. Lincoln in his message of July 4, 1861, said that 
" The Union gave each of them whatever of independence 
and liberty it has. The Union is older than any of the 
States, and in fact it created them as States." That the 
States did not regard independence as freeing them from 
their relation to Congress may be seen from the fact that 
their new governments were formed under the direction or 
with the permission of Congress. The outbreak of the 
Revolution in 1775 had suddenly destroyed the constitu- 
tional governments with which the colonies were familiar. 
Everywhere courts were prevented from sitting, and 
Revolution- govemors were impeded or driven out. In 
ary govern- order to Organize resistance and also to carry 

ments. , ,. . 

out the ordinary purposes of government, in 
each colony there arose a revolutionary and unauthorized 
body, known as the Provincial Convention, or Provincial 
Congress, which took upon itself all the powers of gov- 
ernment. The new arrangement was unsatisfactory to a 
people accustomed to orderly government and to stable 
administrations. They turned to Congress for advice. 
At first Congress suggested only temporary arrangements. 
In November, 1775, it encouraged the colonies to form 
permanent organizations, and on May 10, 1776, it advised 
them all to " adopt such governments as shall . . . best 
conduce to the happiness and safety of their constituents 
in particular, and America in general." 

Acting under these suggestions, the colonies had al- 
ready begun before July 4, 1776, to draw up written 
State con- instruments of government. In two States, 
stitinions. Connecticut and Rhode Island, the old char- 
ters were so democratic that with a few slight changes 
of phraseology they were sufiiicient for the new condi 
6 



82 Union and Independence. [§§ 39, 40. 

tions. In all other colonies the opportunity was taken to 
alter the familiar machinery. The Provincial Conventions, 
or, in one case, a special Constitutional Convention, drew 
up a constitution and put it into force. Since the gov- 
ernor had been unpopular, in several cases his place was 
supplied by an executive council. The courts were reor- 
ganized on the old basis, and the judges were left appoin- 
tive. The first constitution to be formed was that of 
New Hampshire. January 5, 1776, the Provincial Con- 
gress voted " to take up civil government as follows." 
By 1777, nine other new constitutions had thus been 
provided. They mark an epoch in the constitutional his- 
tory of the world. The great English charters and the 
Act of Settlement were constitutional documents; but 
they covered only a small part of the field of government. 
Almost for the first time in history, representatives of 
the people were assembled to draw up systematic and 
complete constitutions, based on the consent of the 
governed. 

Singularly enough, the last State to form a definite con- 
stitution was Massachusetts. Till 1776, that colony 
„ ,. . claimed to be acting under a charter which 

Constitution . .* 

of Massa- England was ignormg. The General Court 
c usetts, ^1^^^^ chose councillors of its own to act as an 
executive. Dissensions broke out, and a considerable 
body of the people of Berkshire County repudiated this 
government and demanded a new constitution. In 1780 a 
constitution was drafted by a convention assembled solely 
for that purpose, and, for the first time in the history of 
America, the work of a convention was submitted for 
ratification by a popular vote. 

40. The First Period of the War (1775-1778). 

Two policies presented themselves to the British gov- 
ernment at the beginning of the war. They might have 



775- 



-1779-] State Constitutions. The War. 83 



used their great rxaval strength alone, blockading the coast 
and sealing every harbor ; thus the colonies would be cut 
British miii- off from the rest of the world, and allowed 
tary policy, ^q enjoy thcir independence until they were 
ready to return to their allegiance. The alternative of 
invasion was chosen ; but it was useless, with the forces 
available, to occupy any considerable part of the interior. 
By threatening various parts of the coast, the Americans 
could be obliged to make many detachments of their few 
troops. By occupying the principal towns, such as New- 
port, New York, Philadelphia, Charleston, and Savannah, 
the centres of resistance could be broken up, the loyal- 
ists encouraged, and bases established, from which the 
main American armies were to be reached and destroyed. 
On the sea the navy was to be used to ruin American 
commerce and to prevent the importation of supplies. 

The policy of the Americans was, not to attempt to 

defend the whole coast, but to keep as large a number of 

troops as they could raise together in one 

American *• ■' irii- 

military body, as a Substantial army ; to defend their 

P°'"^^'' land communication from New England to the 

South ; and by standing ready for operations in the field, 
to prevent the British from making any large detach- 
ments. They must hold as much of their territory as 
possible, in order to prevent defections ; and they must 
take every advantage of their defensive position, in order 
at length to hem in and capture the opposing armies on 
the coast, as they did finally at Yorktown. The open 
gate through the Hudson they strove to close early in the 
war by invasion of Canada. On the sea all they could 
do was to capture supplies and destroy commerce, and 
by the ravages of their privateers to inspire the enemy 
with respect. 

Neither party was able to carry out its plans. The 
British took all the principal seaports, but were able to 



84 Union and hidependence. [§§40,41- 

hold none, except New York, to the end of the war. First 
Burgoyne and later Cornwallis made a determined at- 
Plans frus- tempt to penetrate far into the interior, and 
trated. ^Qth were captured. On the other hand, 

the Americans could not shake off the main central 
army, and there was danger to the very last that the 
British would beat them in one pitched battle which 
would decide the war. 

Military operations began with several surprises to the 
advantage of the colonists. They took Ticonderoga and 
Campaign invested Boston before the British government 
of 1776. believed that a fight was impending. An ex- 

pedition to Canada failed in 177 S-J^^ but Boston fell. 
Down to the day of the Declaration of Independence the 
advantage was clearly with the colonists. The hard, stern 
struggle of the war began in August, 1776, with the arrival 
of the British in the harbor of New York. The Americans 
were attacked on Long Island, and obliged to retreat 
across the river; when the militia were attacked on thar 
side Washington says : "They ran away in the greatest 
confusion, without firing a shot." Eye-witnesses relate 
that " His Excellency was left on the ground within 
eighty yards 'of the enemy, so vexed with the infamous 
conduct of the troops that he sought death rather than 
life." The American army with difficulty escaped north- 
ward, and Washington was obliged to abandon the impor- 
tant line of the Hudson, and to retreat before the British 
towards Philadelphia. The campaign of 1776 had gone 
Princeton against the Americans. Suddenly out of the 
and Trenton, gloom and despair came two brilliant little 
victories. Crossing the Delaware on Christmas night, 
1776, Washington struck and beat parts of the British 
forces at Trenton and Princeton. They retired, and the 
patriots held Philadelphia during the winter. 

In the spring of 1777 Howe transferred his troops by sea 



1775-I77S-] Military Operations. 85 

to the Chesapeake, beat the Americans, occupied Phila- 
delphia, and lay in that city till the next year. It was a 
Campaign dear success. While the main British force 
of '777- vvas thus withdrawn from New York, an at- 

tempt was made to pierce the colonies from the northward. 
Burgoyne slowly descended during the summer of 1777; 
but, unsupported by Howe, on October 17 he was obliged 
to surrender his whole army at Saratoga. This victory 
roused the spirit and courage of the new nation, and 
strengthened the hands of the envoys who were begging 
for French aUiance. It enabled Washington to maintain 
a small army in winter quarters at Valley Forge, twenty 
miles from Philadelphia. Whatever the early faults of 
American troops and officers, they had learned to obey 
and to suffer as soldiers, patriots, and heroes. At one time 
barely five thousand men were fit for duty- " Naked and 
Steadfast- Starving as they are." wrote Washington, "we 
'■\mei"iLin^ caunot Sufficiently admire the incomparable 
army. paticncc and fidelity of the soldiers." With 

the first days of the year 1778 came the darkest hour of 
the Revolution. The little army, the indispensable hope, 
was beginning to thin out ; the finances of the country 
were desperate ; nine hundred American vessels had 
been capT:ured ; an apathy had fallen upon the country. 
Yet light was beginning to dawn : Steuben, the German, 
had begun to introduce the discipline which was to make 
the American army a new and powerful instrument ; 
Lafayette had brought the sympathy of France and his 
own substantial services ; more than all, during these 
dark days the American envoys were concluding the 
treaty with France which was to save the Union. 

41. Foreign Relations (1778-1780). 
From the beginning of the American struggle the 
French government had looked on with interest and 



S6 Ufiion and Independence. [§§41,42, 

pleasure. The arrogance of England during the previous 
war and during the negotiations of 1763 had excited a 
Interest general dislike throughout Europe. When, in 

of France. June, 1 776, Silas Deane appeared at Paris as 
the American envoy, he found, not recognition, but at 
least sympathy and assistance. Beaumarchais, a play- 
writer and adventurer, was made an unofficial agent of 
France; and through him arms and supplies from royal 
arsenals came into the hands of the Americans. More 
to the purpose, money was placed at the disposal of the 
envoys. In 1776 a miUion francs were thus secured; in 
1777 two millions. The arrival of Franklin in Paris in 
December, 1776, increased the American influence, and 
negotiations were entered upon for a treaty. The English 
cabinet, understanding the danger of a double war, made 
a last effort at reconciliation with the colonies. In 1778 
^ ,. ^ , Lord North brought forward an act declaring 

English plan , ^ ,. m, - i 

ofreconcU- that Parliament "will not impose any duty, 
lation. taxes, or assessment whatever ... in North 

America or the West Indies, except only such duties as 
it may be expedient to impose for the regulation of com 
merce, the net produce of such duties to be always paid 
and applied to and for the use of the colony in which the 
same shall be levied." The principle which had been so 
strenuously asserted by the home government from 1765 
to 1774 was now abandoned; it might reasonably be 
expected that the violent acts of Massachusetts directed 
against taxation would be forgiven. Commissioners 
were sent to Ajnerica with almost unlimited powers to 
remove the grievances of the colonies, and to restore 
peace and concord. 

Before they were appointed, a treaty of alliance had 
been made, Feb. 6, 1778, between the United States 
and France. With it went a treaty of commerce, insur- 
ing reciprocal trade with France. The colonies, which 



1776-1778 ] Foreign Relations. 87 

in 1758 had been fiercely fighting the French as their 
hereditary enemies, were now delighted at the prospect 
Alliance of their support. The peace commission re- 
with France, mained in America from June to October ; but 
though they offered every concession short of absolute in- 
dependence, the Americans remained firm, and entered 
with confidence on the campaign of 1778. 

42. The War ended (1778-1782). 

The European crisis was favorable to the Americans . 
the British government had hitherto been unable to 
Stubborn- r^duce them ; the Germans would furnish no 
ness of more mercenaries ; a strong minority in Par- 

eorge Hament opposed the American war; France 

had declared war in March, 1778, and Spain was about 
to follow. Proper reinforcements could not be sent to 
America. 'llie country cried out for Pitt, who had 
declared himself positively against American independ- 
ence. The king resolutely refused. " No advantage to 
this country, no personal danger to myself," said he, " can 
ever make me address myself to Lord Chatham or to any 
other branch of the opposition." Pitt died on IMay 11, 
and the chance of a statesmanlike policy disappeared. 

When the French fleet, with four thousand troops, ap- 
peared in American waters in July, 1778, Washington 
Campaign formed the hopeful plan of driving the British 
of 1778. Qut Qf the country. Philadelphia had been 

abandoned by Clinton, acting under orders of the British 
government. Only two places were left in the possession 
of the British, — New York city and Newport, Rhode 
Island. The combined American and French expedition 
against Newport was a failure, although, as Washington 
said, " it would have given the finishing blow to British 
pretensions of sovereignty over this countr3\" 



88 Union and Independence. [§§42,43. 

Meanwhile, in England the king was imposing his re- 
lentless will upon a ministry tired of the war, and upon 
The war ^^^ English people. It was the climax of 
continued. George the Third's effort to escape from the 
principle of Parhamentary responsibility. " This coun- 
try," he said, " will never regain a proper tone unless 
ministers, as in the reign of King William, will not mind 
now and then being in a minority." In April, 1779, 
Spain allied herself wdth France, and the combined fleets 
of those two powers obtained the mastery of the seas. 
Paul Jones, with a little fleet under an American commis- 
sion, captured two British men-of-war, almost in sight of 
the English coast. 

A new plan was formed for an American campaign in 
1779. Forces were directed against Georgia and South 
Southern Carolina, — States in which there were many 
campaign. loyaHsts. Savannah was taken, Charleston was 
assailed, and the expedition under Cornwallis penetrated 
far into North Carolina. Yet at the end of 1780 the 
British held, besides New York, only the provinces of 
South Carolina and Georgia. In September, 1780, Bene- 
dict Arnold all but delivered to the hands of the enemy 
the important fortress of West Point. He was weary of 
the struggle, and anxious to secure his own safety. 

With renewed spirit the Americans in 1781 took the 
offensive in the Carolinas under Greene. Cornwallis 
Surrender of nioved northward to the peninsula of York- 
Yorktown. town. The moment had come. By a rapid 
movement of Washington's army and the effective co- 
operation of the French fleet, Cornwallis was trapped 
at Yorktown; and on Oct. 19, 1781, he surrendered, with 
eight thousand men. It \Yas the first decided victory 
which Washington had himself gained. It made evident 
to England the hopelessness of continuing the contest; 
and in November, 1782, peace was made. 



177S-1782.] The War ended, 89 

The Revolutionary war was successful because the 
English underestimated the strength of the movement 
Reasons for ^* ^^ beginning, because the EngHsh corn- 
American manders were incapable, and because in the 
success \3X^x period, when the British were aroused, 

their strength was diverted by the dangerous European 
war. It was gained finally by the firmness and resolu- 
tion of the people, and that resolution is typified in 
Washington. His patience and endurance, his abihty to 
hold in check large forces with small armies imperfectly 
equipped, his power to keep the country up to the sup- 
port of the war, mark him as one of the world's great 
military commanders. 

43. Finances of the Revolution (1775-1783). 

The successful termination of the war is the more re- 
markable because it was fought by a government almost 
without means, and finally without credit. The sad- 
dest part of the suffering at Valley Forge is that it 
was unnecessary. There was always food and clothing 
in the country, but Congress had no money to buy it. 
Congress had no power to lay taxes, and the colonies, 
most of which were spending large sums on their own 
militia, were not disposed to supply the general treasury. 
The pay of the Continental troops and of the 
general officers, the furnishing of equipments 
and stores, the support of foreign embassies, were bur- 
dens that must be borne, and Congress must find the 
means. 

The most successful and the most disastrous resource 
was the issue of paper-money. When, in June, 1775, '^ 
Continental was proposed to meet the general expenses 
currency. j-jy^ putting forth two millions in Continental 
notes, there was but feeble objection, 'it was the only 
way of raising money which seemed to cost nobody any- 



90 U^iion and hidependence. [§43. 

thing. In the course of a year four millions more fol 
lowed. Congress, with commendable foresight, called 
upon each colony to pay in a sum sufificient to retire its 
proportion of the issue. Nothing was paid, and the print- 
ing-press was again put in motion, until in January, 1779, 
fifty milhons were issued at a time. In November, 1779, 
the limit of two hundred millions was reached. In order 
to float these notes the States passed acts making them a 
legal tender ; but at the same time they were themselves 
issuing large sums in a similar currency. Counterfeits 
abounded, but it soon became a matter of httle difference 
whether a bill was good or bad, since the best was worth 
so little. From the time of the capture of New York by 
the British in 1776 the notes began to fall. In 1778 the 
news of the French alliance caused a little rise; but in 
1 78 1 the bills fell to a point where a thousand dollars ex 
changed for one dollar in specie, and a Philadelphia wag 
made out of the riotes a blanket for his dog. The Con- 
tinental currency was never redeemed, and was conse- 
quently a forced tax on those who were least able to pay, 
since every holder lost by its depreciation while in his 
hands. 

The absolutely necessary expenditures, without which 
no army could make head against the British, were from 
twenty to twenty-five million specie dollars 
each year. Of this the Continental bills fur- 
nished on an average some eight or ten millions. Another 
method of raising money was that of borrowing on 
funded loans. Great schemes were put forth. The 
United States were to borrow at four per cent ; they were 
to borrow two millions ; they were to borrow ten millions ; 
they were to borrow twenty millions. The result was 
that in three years $181,000 was thus loaned, and up to 
the end of the war but $1,600,000, — hardly a hundredth 
part of the necessary means. Failing to raise money 



1 775-1 783] I'inances of the Revolution. 91 

directly, recourse was had to the so-called loan-office cer- 
tificates. These were issued to creditors of the govern- 
ment, and bore interest. The greater part of the military 
supplies were paid for in this extravagant and demoral- 
izing fashion, and in 1789 they had to be settled, with ac- 
cumulated interest amounting to nearly fifty per cent. 
Better success was had in Europe. No private banker 
would lend money to a set of rebels not recognized by 
any government as independent, but the French and 
.Spanish governments were willing to advance both 
money and stores. In this way the United States re- 
ceived about three million dollars. 

When it was evident that the domestic loan had failed, 

Congress called upon the States to furnish five millions 

of dollars, apportioned among them according 

Requisitions. , o • • \. ^. * . .,. ^ 

to their importance. These requisitions were 
repeated at intervals during the Revolution, but always 
with the same effect. Not a fourth part of the sums 
asked for was paid by the States. A system of " specific 
supplies " was adopted in 1778, by which the States were 
allowed to pay their quotas in kind. It added a new 
source of confusion, and brought no more revenue. 

Every device that the government could put into oper- 
ation for raising money was eventually tried. A lottery 
Miscellaneous brought considerable sums into the treasury, 
resources. ^\-^^ Supplies for the army were seized at 
Valley Forge and elsewhere, and paid for in certificates. 
Bills were drawn on foreign ministers for funds which it 
was hoped they might have in hand by the time the bills 
reached them, and the government bought, and sent 
abroad to meet its indebtedness, cargoes of tobacco and 
other products. 

The financial burdens of the government were in- 
creased by a spirit of extravagance, speculation, and even 
of corruption. Washington wrote, " Unless extortion, 



92 Union and Independence. [§§ 43-45- 

forestalling, and other practices which have . . . become 
exceedingly prevalent can meet with proper checks, we 
must inevitably sink under such a load of ac- 
pecuation. ^.^j^^^j^^g^ Oppressions." The whole cost of 
the war is estimated at one hundred and thirty-five mil- 
lions. Of this about one hundred millions had been 
raised through the Continental bills and other devices 
About thirty-five millions remained as a national debt 



44. Internal Difficulties (1775-1782), 

That Congress was able to make no better provision 
for the finances was due to a decHne in its prestige rather 
Weakness of than to a lack of interest in the war. Some of 
Congress. thg ablest members were drawn into military 
service, or sent on foreign missions. The committee sys- 
tem made it inefficient, and it was difficult to bring it to a 
decision upon the most important matters. In vain did 
Washington storm, and implore it to act quickly and 
intelligently on military matters of great moment. Its 
relations with the States changed as the war advanced. 
Dec. 7, 1776, Congress made Washington for a time 
almost a dictator. In 1779 the Virginia legislature for- 
mally denied that it was "answerable to Congress for not 
agreeing with any of its recommendations." 

To the frequent unfriendly relations with the States 
was added the constant conflict with the loyalists. 
The loy- Throughout the colonies the adherents to Eng- 
alists. land or the sympathizers with the English 

government were under grave suspicion. Many of them 
left the country; some enlisted with the British, and 
returned to fight against their own land. A body of 
loyalists led the hostile Indians into the Wyoming valley 
to torture and to murder. The loyalists who remained at 
home were often the medium of communication with the 



7775-1782.] Internal Difficulties. 93 

British lines. Some of them, like Dr. Mather Byles of 
Boston, and George Watson of Plymouth, were allowed to 
remain on condition that they held their tongues. Wash- 
ington was so exasperated with them that he termed 
them "execrable parricides." In every State the loyalists 
were feared and hated. When the British invaded the 
country, the loyalists joined them ; when the British 
were repulsed, thousands of them were obliged to aban- 
don their homes. 

The finances of the States were as much disturbed as 
those of the Union. Their paper-money issues shared 
Dissensions ^^"^^ ^^^^ ^^^^- Their debts, funded and un- 
in States. funded, increased. They were harassed by 
internal divisions, even among the patriots. In Massa- 
chusetts, Berkshire County remained until 1780 practically 
independent, and the county convention did not scruple 
to declare to the General Court that there were " other 
States which will, we doubt not, as bad as we are, gladly 
receive us," 

45. Formation of a Constitution (1776-1781). 

One cause of the weakness of Congress and the dis- 
orders in the States was the want of a settled national 
Preiimi- government. The Continental Congress un- 
iiariesofa derstood that it was but a makeshift, and on 
the day when a committee was formed to 
frame a Declaration of Independence, another committee 
was appointed to draw up Articles of Confederation. 
It reported July 12, 1776; but the moment discussion 
began, it was seen that there were almost insuperable 
difficulties. The first was the question whether each 
State should have one vote, as in the existing govern- 
ment, or whether each should cast a number of votes in 
proportion to its population; the second question was 
how revenue should be raised and assessed; the third 



94 Union and Independence. [§§ 45, 46. 

was how the western country should be held ; the fourth 
was what powers should be given to the general gov- 
ernment, and what retained by the States ; the fifth, 
Articles ^"^^w disputes within the Union should be set- 

submitted tied. When, on Nov. 15, 1777, Congress had 
finally adopted a draft of Articles of Confederation, the 
decline of its power and influence was reflected in the 
proposed instrument of government. On the question of 
representation, the rule of vote by States was continued. 
The only taxation was a formal system of requisitions 
on the States. Here the question of slavery was unex- 
pectedly brought in : the Northern States desired to 
apportion the taxes according to total population, includ- 
ing slaves. "Our slaves are our property" said Lynch, 
of South Carolina ; " If that is debated, there is an end 
of the Confederation. Being our property, why should 
they be taxed more than sheep .'' " A compromise was 
reached, by which requisitions were to be assessed in 
proportion to the value of lands in the several States. 
The question of control of territory was not distinctly 
settled by the articles. The powers to be conferred upon 
the Confederation were practically limited to war, peace, 
and foreign affairs. A cumbrous system of arbitration 
courts was established for disputes between States, but 
there was no machinery for settling quarrels between 
States and the national government. 

Congress had spent a year and a half in forming the 
Articles of Confederation. The States took three and a 
half years in ratifying them. Ten States early signified 
their willingness to adopt them. Three others stood 
out because the Western lands were left in dispute. 
The West- ^"^ i??^, when the British authority had been 
era lands. declared no longer existent in the colonies, 
each of the new States considered itself possessed of all 
the British lands which at any time had been included 



I 



177^1781.1 Articles of Conjederation. 95 

within its boundary; and in 1778 Virginia had captured 
the few British posts northwest of the Ohio, and had 
shortly after created that immense region, now the seat 
of five powerful States, into the " County of lUinois." On 
the other hand, it was strongly urged that the Western ter- 
ritory had been secured through a war undertaken by all 
the colonies for the whole country, and that the lands ought 
to be reserved to reward the continental soldiers, and to 
secure the debt of the United States. For the sake of 
union, two of the three dissatisfied commonwealths agreed 
„ , , to the Articles of Confederation. One State 

Maryland 

will not alone stood firm : Maryland, whose boundaries 

'^^'' ^" could not be so construed as to include any 

part of the lands, refused to ratify unless the claims 
of Virginia were disallowed ; Virginia and Connecticut 
proposed to close the Union without Maryland ; Vir- 
ginia even opened a land office for the sale of a part of 
the territory in dispute ; but threats had no effect. New 
York, which had less to gain from the Western territory 
than the other claimants, now came forward with the 
cession of her claims to the United States ; and Virginia, 
on Jan. 2, 1781, agreed to do the like. On March i, 
1 78 1, it was announced that Maryland had ratified the 
Articles Articles of Confederation, and they were 

in force. July put into force. From that date the Con- 

gress, though little changed in personnel or in powers, 
was acting under a written constitution, and the States 
had bound themselves to abide by it. 



46. Peace negotiated (1779-1782). 

Thus the settlement of the final terms of peace fell to 
Instructions ^^ "^^ government, but rather as a heritage 
of 1779. than as a new task. Instructions issued by 

Congress in 1779 had insisted, as a first essential, on an 



96 Union and Independence, (.§4& 

acknowledgment by Great Britain of the independence of 
the United States. Next, adequate boundaries were to be 
provided ; the United States must extend as far west as the 
Mississippi, as far south as the thirty-first parallel, and as 
far north as Lake Nipissing. The third desideratum was 
undisturbed fishery rights on the banks of Newfoundland. 
Finally, it was expected that a treaty of commerce would 
be yielded by Great Britain after the peace was made. 
In 1781 Virginia, alarmed by Cornwallis's invasion, suc- 
Instructions ceeded in carrying a very different set of in- 
of 1781- structions. The only essential was to be the 

substantial admission that America was independent ; in 
all else the treaty was to be made in a manner satisfac- 
tory to the French minister of foreign affairs. 

Before peace could be reached it was necessary to 
break down the iron opposition of the king. On Feb. 28, 
^, ,. 1782, Conway's motion, lookins: to the cessa- 

The king r i i 

consents tion of the war, was adopted by Parliament, 
to peace. „ xhe fatal day has come," said the king. It 
was not merely his American policy which had failed; 
the party of the "King's Friends" was beaten; North 
resigned ; and after twelve years of strenuous opposition, 
the king was obliged to accept a Whig ministry, which he 
detested, and to let it negotiate for peace. A part of the 
ministry still cherished the delusion that the Americans 
would accept terms which did not leave them indepen- 
liidepen- dent. The firmness of the American envoys 
dence. ^^g effectual ; a royal commission was at last 

addressed to Oswald, authorizing him to treat with "the 
commissioners of the United States of America " in 
Paris. Then came the important question of boundary. 
Without the thirteen colonies the possession 
of the Floridas was of little value to England, 
and they had been reduced by a Spanish expedition in 
1 781 ; they were therefore returned to Spain. For a long 



•-779-17^2.] Peace negotiated. 97 

time the English insisted that a neutral belt of Indian 
territory should be created west of the mountains. That 
point was finally waived ; the Americans withdrew their 
pretensions to the territory north of Lake Erie ; and the 
St. Lawrence River system, from the western end of 
Lake Superior to the fort3^-fifth parallel, was made the 
boundary. From the forty-fifth parallel to the sea, the 
boundary was described as following the "highlands 
which divide those rivers that empty themselves into 
the St. Lawrence from those which fall into the Atlantic 
Ocean." The country was little known ; the commis- 
sioners were probably confused ; and the ground was thus 
prepared for a dispute which lasted fift5^-nine years. In 
the course of the negotiations the American ambassadors, 
Instructions J^J* Adam.s, Franklin, and Laurens, became 
Ignored. suspicious of the French court. There is 

now some reason for believing that Vergennes, the 
French minister, had dealt honorably with the Amer- 
ican interests, and could have secured excellent terms. 
"Would you break your instructions.^" asked one of 
the fellow-commissioners of Jay. " I would," he replied, 
" as I would break this pipe." Thenceforward the Amer- 
icans dealt directly and solely with the English envoys. 

The next question to be settled was the claim of the 
English to the navigation of the Mississippi, which was 
The Missis- Supposed to reach northward into British ter- 
sippi. ritory. It was yielded ; the Americans, how- 

ever, received no corresponding right of navigation 
through Spanish territory to the sea. Next came the 
The fish- fisheries. As colonists the New Englanders 
^'■'^s- had alwa^'s enjoyed the right to fish upon the 

Newfoundland banks, and to land at convenient spots 
to cure their fish. Adams, representing New England, 
insisted that " the right of fishing " should be distinctly 
stated; he carried his point. 
7 



98 Union and Independence. [§§ 46, 47. 

The main difficulties disposed of, three troublesome 
minor points had to be adjusted. The first was the ques- 
tion of the loyalists. They had suffered from 

Loyalists. -' ,,■;.., 

their attachment to the British government; 
they had been exiled; their estates had been confis- 
cated, their names made a by-word. The British gov- 
ernment first insisted, and then pleaded, that the treaty 
should protect these persons if they chose to return to 
their former homes. The Americans would agree only 
that Congress should " earnestly recommend " to the 
thirteen legislatures to pass Relief Acts. Then came the 

question of private debts due to the British 
^ ^^" merchants at the outbreak of the Revolu- 

tion, and still unpaid. Some of the American envoys 
objected to reviving these obligations ; but Adams, when 
he arrived, set the matter at rest by declaring that he had 
"no notion of cheating anybody." Finally came the 

question of the treatment of the slaves who 

had taken refuge with the British armies ; and 
the English commissioners agreed that the British troops 
should withdraw " without causing any destruction or the 
carrying away any negroes or other property of the 
American inhabitants." On Nov. 30, 1782, a provisional 
Treaty treaty was signed ; but it was not until Sept. 

signed. 2, 1783, after the peace between France and 

England had been adjusted, that the definitive treaty was 
signed, in precisely the same terms. 

With great difficulty a quorum was assembled, and on 
Jan. 14, 1784, it was duly ratified by Congress. The 
treaty was a triumph for American diplomacy. " It is 
impossible," says Lecky, the ablest historian of this 
period, " not to be struck with the skill, hardihood, and 
good fortune that marked the American negotiations. 
Everything the United States could with any show of 
plausibility demand from England, they obtained." 



1783-] Treaty. Union. 99 



47. Political Effects of the War. 

Thus in seven years America had advanced from the 
condition of a body of subordinate colonies to that of a 
American nation. Furthermore, the people, who at the 
union. beginning of the struggle were scattered and 

separated, and who scarcely knew each other, were now 
united under a government ; the Confederation, however 
weak, was the strongest federation then in existence. 
The people had learned the lesson of acting together in 
a great national crisis, and of accepting the limitations 
upon their governments made necessary by the central 
power. 

The spirit of the new nation was now to be subjected 
to a test more severe than that of the Revolution. Dan- 
Union not ger banded the colonies together during the 
perfected. ^var ; would they remain together during 
peace .'' Sectional jealousies had broken out in Con- 
gress and in camp; and in the crisis of 1777 an effort 
had been made to displace Washington. There had 
been repeated instances of treachery among military 
officers and among foreign envoys. The States were 
undoubtedly much nearer together than the colonies had 
been ; they had accepted a degree of control from the 
general government which they had refused from Eng- 
land; but they were not used to accept the resolutions of 
Congress as self-operative. Their conception of national 
government was still that national legislation filtrated 
from Congress to the State legislatures, and through 
that medium to the people. 

The interior of the country was in a confused and 
alarming state. The territorial settlement with the States 
Frontier had Only bcgun, and was to be the work of 
difficulties. years. The Indians were a stumbling-block 
which must be removed from the path of the settlers 



J 



ioo Unioji and independence. [§47. 

Within the States there were poverty, taxation, and disor- 
der, and a serious discontent. 

Nevertheless, the system of the colonies was a system 
of union. The State governments all rested on the same 
Common basis of revolution and defiance of former 
institutions, established law; but when they separated 
from England they preserved those notions of Enghsh 
private and public law which had distinguished the colo- 
nies. The laws and the governments of the States were 
everywhere similar. The States were one in language, 
in religion, in traditions, in the memories of a common 
struggle, and in pohtical and economic interests. 

Commercially, however, the situation of the country 
was worse than it had been in three quarters of a cen- 
Trade iViXy. Though the fisheries had been saved 

hampered. by the efforts of Adams, the market for the 
surplus fish was taken away. As colonies they had 
enjoyed the right to trade with other British colonies ; 
as an independent nation they had only those rights 
which England chose to give. For a time the ministry 
seemed disposed to make a favorable commercial treaty ; 
but in 1783 an Order in Council was issued cutting off 
the Americans from the West Indian trade ; and it was 
not until 1818 that they recovered it. 

A great political principle had been strengthened by the 
success of the Revolution : republican government had 
been revived in a fashion unknown since an- 
goTernment cieut timcs. The territory claimed by Virginia 
encouraged, ^^^g larger than the island of Great Britain. 
The federal republic included an area nearly four times 
as large as that of France. In 1782 Frederick of Prus- 
sia told the English ambassador that the United States 
could not endure, " since a republican government had 
never been known to exist for any length of time where 
the territory was not limited and concentred." The 



^7^3'] Political Effects of the War. loi 

problem was a new one ; but in communities without a 
titled aristocracy, which had set themselves against the 
power of a monarch, and which had long been accus- 
tomed to self-government, the problem was successfully 
worked out. The suffrage was still limited to the holders 
of land; but the spirit of the Revolution looked towards 
abolishing all legal distinctions between man and man ; 
and the foundation of later democracy, with its universal 
suffrage, was thus already laid. 

The influence of the republican spirit upon the rest 
of the world was not yet discerned; but the United 
Influence States had established for themselves two prin- 
of rights ciples which seriously affected other nations. 

"^ "■ If English colonies could by revolution relieve 

themselves from the colonial system of England, the 
French and Spanish colonies might follow that example ; 
and forty years later not one of the Spanish continental 
colonies acknowledged the authority of the home govern- 
ment. The other principle was that of the rights of man. 
The Declaration of Independence contained a list of 
rights such as were familiar to the colonists of England, 
but were only theories elsewhere. The success of the 
Revolution was, therefore, a shock to the system of privi- 
lege and of class exemptions from the common burdens, 
which had lasted since feudal times. The French Rev- 
olution of 1789 was an attempt to apply upon alien 
ground the principles of the American Revolution. 



102 The Confederation. [§§ 4S, 49- 



CHAPTER V. 
THE CONFEDERATION (1781-1788). 



48. Eeferences. 

Bibliographies. — Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical His- 
tory, VI. 745, VII. 199-236, 527-543, VIII. 491; notes to Curtis, 
Bancroft, McMaster, and Pitkin ; W. E. Foster, References to the 
Constitution, 12-14; J.J. Lalor, Cyclopcedia, I. 577; Channing and 
Hart Guide, §§ 142, 149-153. 

Historical Maps. — Nos. i, 3, this volume ( Epoch Maps, Nos. 
6, 7) ; Labberton, Atlas, l.x.vi. ; Rhode, Atlas, No. xxviii. : Johnston, 
History of the United States for Schools, 133 ; Gordon, American 
Revolution, I. frontispiece; B. A. Hinsdale, Old Northwest, I. 188, 
201 (reprinted from MacCoun's Historical Geography), also I. frontis- 
piece, and II. 393 ; Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, 
VII. 140 ; school histories of Channing, Johnston, Scudder, Thomas. 

General Accounts. — Joseph Story, Commentaries, §§ 218-271 ; 
R. Hildreth, United States, III. 374-481 ; T. Pitkin, II. 9-36, 154- 
218; H. Von Hoist United States, I. 1-46; Geo. Tucker, Utited 
States, I. 291-347 ; Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, 
VII. ch. iii. ; J, T. Morse, Fratiklin, 216-^20 ; Abiel Holmes, Annals 
of America, II. 353-371 ; J. Schouler, United States, I. 1-30; Bryant 
and Gay, Popular History, IV. 79-99 ; F. A. Walker, Making of a 
Nation, ch. i.; Edward Channing, United States, 1765-1S65, ch. iv. 

Special Histories. — G. T. Curtis, Constitutional History, chs. 
v.-xiv. {History of the Constitution, I. 214-347); George Bancroft, 
United States (last revision), VI. 5-194 ; History of the Constitution, 
I. 1-266; John Fiske, Critical Period, 1-186 ; J. B. McMaster, 
United States, 1. 103-416; J. F. Jameson, Essays on the Constittdion ; 
T. Pitkin, United States, I. 283-422; II. 223; William B. Weeden, 
New England, II. chs. xxii., xxiii. ; W. G. Sumner, Financier and 
Fifiances, II. chs. xvi-xxvii, ; B. A. Hinsdale, Old Northwest, chs. 
ix.-xvi. ; H. B. Adams, Maryland's Influence; W. Hill, First 
Stages of the Tariff Policy ; S. Sato, Public Land Question; Theo- 
dore Roosevelt, Winning of the West, III. 

Contemporary Accounts. — Journals of Congress; Secret 
Journals ; Madison's notes in H. D. Gilpin, Papers of James Mad- 



1781.] United States in 1781. 103 

ison^ and in Elliot's Debates, V. ; letters of Washington, Madison, 
John Jay, Hamilton, and Franklin, in their works; Thomas Paine, 
Ptiblic Good; Noah Webster, Sketches of American Policy ; Pelatiah 
Webster, Dissertation on the Political Union ; Brissot de Warville's 
Examen Critique [17S4], and Noiiveau Voyage [1788J, (also in 
translation); Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia. — Reprints in 
American History told by Contemporaries, II. ; American History 
Leaflets, Nos. 20, 22, 28. 



49. Tlie United States in 1781. 

The task thrown upon Congress in 1781 would have tried 
the strongest government in existence. An army of more 
than ten thousand men was under arms, and 
must be kept up until peace was formally de- 
clared, and then must be paid off. The territorial claims 
of the States and of the Union were still in confusion, 
Virginia roused the suspicion of the small States by mak- 
^ . ing the promised cession in terms which Con- 

lerritory, ^- ^ 

gress could not accept, and the other States 
had made no motion towards yielding their claims. Rela- 
tions with the Indians were still confused. Superintend 
ents of Indian affairs had been appointed, and in 1778 a 
treaty was negotiated with the Creeks ; but the States, 
particularly Pennsylvania and Georgia, continued to 
make their own arrangements with Indian tribes. 

The finances of the country seemed to have reached 
their lowest ebb. An attempt was made to float a new 

issue of continental money at one dollar for 

Finances. -^ 

forty of the old bills. The new obhgations 
speedily sank to the level of the old, and the country was 
practically bankrupt. The aid of the French was all that 
kept the government afloat (§ 43). The return of peace 
was expected to restore American commerce to its old 
prosperity; but having gone to war principally 
because colonial commerce with other coun- 
tries was restricted, the Americans found themselves 



104 1^^^^ Confederation. [§§49-51. 

deprived of their old freedom of trade with England. 
They were subject to discriminating duties in English 
ports, and were excluded from the direct trade with the 
English West Indies, which had been the chief resource 
General of the colonial ship-owners. The State gov- 

vveakness. emmeuts wcre in debt, embarrassed, and beset 
with the social difficulties which come in the train of 
war. The disbanded troops were not accustomed to reg- 
ular employment or to a quiet life; taxes were heavy 
and odious ; the far Western settlements clamored to be 
set free from the States to which they belonged. Above 
all, the national government was weak, inefficient, and 
little respected by the army or the people at large. 

50. Form of the Government (1781-1788.) 

The first and fundamental defect of the government 
was in the organization of Congress. The Continental 

Congress had been a head without a body; 

under the Articles of Confederation, Congress 
was a body without a head. A single assembly contin- 
ued to be the source of all national legislative, executiver 
and judicial power (§37). As though to prevent the coun- 
try from getting the benefit of experience, no man could 
remain a member of Congress for more than three years 
in succession. The delegates of each State continued 
to cast jointly one vote; if only one member were present, 
the vote of a State was not counted ; if but two were 
present, they might produce a tie. On important ques- 
tions the approval of nine States was necessary, and often 
less than that number had voting representatives on the 
floor. Amendment was impossible, except by consent of 
all the State legislatures. Although Congress had to 
deal with difficult questions of peace, its principal power 
was that of carrying on war. Congress might make 



1781.] Form of the Government. 105 

treaties, but it could pass no act in defence of American 
commerce. 

A great effort was made to improve the executive 
system. By resolutions passed early in 1781, secreta- 
Executive ^ies were appointed for the three departments 
departments, ^f Foreign Affairs, War, and Finance; the 
board system, championed by Samuel Adams and others, 
was to be abandoned. The importance of the War De- 
partment diminished after 1782. "The Secretary of the 
United States for the Department of Foreign Affairs" 
was quartered in two little rooms, and furnished with two 
clerks. The post was filled first by Robert R. Living- 
ston, and from 1784 by John Jay. The ofifice of Superin- 
tendent of Finance was bestowed upon Robert Morris of 
Pennsylvania. 

The Articles of Confederation provided for a special 
tribunal to settle territorial disputes between the States. 
The system was invoked in 1782, and a verdict 
was rendered in favor of Pennsylvania and 
against Connecticut in their rival claims to the Wyoming 
region. A second set ot federal courts was constituted by 
designating certain State courts to try piracies and felonies 
committed on the high seas. A third and the only impor- 
tant federal tribunal was the Court of Appeals in prize 
cases, which began to sit in January, 1780, and before which 
were sued sixty-five cases All the courts, like all the ex- 
ecutive departments, were created by Congress, alterable 
by Congress, and subject to the control of Congress. In 
1 784 the Court of Appeals was allowed to lapse, by the 
refusal of Congress to pay the salaries of the judges. 

51. Disbandment of the Army (1783.) 

To follow the history of the Confederation from year 
to year would be unprofitable. It was a confused period, 
with no recognized national leaders, no parties, no great 



io6 TJie Confederation. [§§51,52. 

crises. We shall therefore take up one after another the 
important questions which arose, and follow each to the 
end of the Confederation. 

The first duty of Congress after peace was declared 
was to cut off the military expenditures (§ 42). The food, 
Half-pay clothing, and pay of the army amounted to 
question. about $400,000 a month. Provision had been 
made for bounty lands for the soldiers; the officers ex- 
pected some more definite reward. On April 26, 1778, 
Congress, by a majority of one State, had voted half pay 
for life to the officers, as an essential measure for keeping 
the army together. In the four years following, five dif- 
ferent votes had been passed, each annulling the previous 
one. Another proposition, in November, 1782, was to 
remit the whole matter to the States. On March 10, 
1783, appeared the so-called " Newburgh addresses," —an 
anonymous plea to the army, urging the officers not to 
separate until Congress had done justice in this respect. 
A crisis was threatened. Washington himself attended 
the meeting of the officers, and counselled moderation. 
He used his utmost influence with Congress, and on the 
22d of March secured a vote of full pay for five years. 
As the treasury was empty, the only payment to the 
officers was in certificates of indebtedness, 

Protests. 1 . 1 . Ill- , 

upon which mterest accumulated during the 
next seven years. Massachusetts protested, declaring 
the grant to be "more than an adequate reward for their 
services, and inconsistent with that equality which ought 
to subsist among citizens of free and republican states." 
In June, 1783, three hundred mutineers surrounded the 
place of meeting of Congress, and demanded a settlement 
of their back pay; and the executive council of Pennsyl- 
vania declined to interfere. The result was that Con- 
gress changed its place of meeting, and ever after retained 
a hvely resentment against the city of Philadelphia. 



\ 



1783,1784] The Army. — Territory. 107 



52. Territorial Settlement with the States (1781-1802). 

Although Congress had no power, under the Articles of 
Confederation, to regulate territory, it earnestly urged the 
The West- States to cede their claims. The Ohio River 
ern claims. divided the Western country into two regions, 
each having a separate territorial history. The northern 
part was claimed by Virginia, Massachusetts, and Con- 
necticut, on the ground that their old charters, extending 
to the Pacific, were revived (§ 45). The United States, as 
representing the landless States, claimed the whole region 
as territory won by the common effort and sacrifice of 
Northwest ^he Revolutionary War. On March i, 1784, 
cessions. Virginia ceded all her claims north of the 

Ohio River, except a reservation for bounty lands. 
Massachusetts followed in 1785 ; the commonwealth had 
large tracts of unoccupied land in Maine and in New 
York. Connecticut had no such resources, and in 1786 
ceded only the western part of her claim, retaining till 
1800, as a "Western Reserve," a strip, extending along 
Lake Erie, one hundred and twenty miles west from 
Pennsylvania. 

The claims to the region north of the Ohio having 
thus been extinguished, the government began to make 
Territorial plans for the administration of its domain, 
organization. Qn Oct. lo, 1780, the Continental Congress 
had promised that the lands ceded by the States should 
be " disposed of for the common benefit of the United 
States," and "be settled and formed into distinct repub- 
lican States which shall become members of the federal 
union." These two principles are the foundation both of 
the territorial and the public land systems of the United 
States. 

On April 23, 1784, an ordinance reported by Jefferson 
was passed, providing for representative legislatures as 



io8 The Confederation. [§§ 52, 53. 

fast as the West grew sufficiently populous to maintain 
them. It is hardly a misfortune that the map was not 
encumbered with the names suggested by Jefferson for 
the new States, — Cherronesus, Metropotamia, Asseni- 
sippia, Polypotamia, and Pelisipia; but another clause 
was voted down which would have prohibited slavery in 
the Territories after 1800. 

June 13, 1787, a second ordinance passed Congress, 
which was inferior in importance only to the Federal 
Northwest Constitution. It provided minutely for a pre- 
Ordinance. Hminary territorial government, in which laws 
were to be made by appointive judges, and for a later 
representative governmento The conception was that the 
Territories were to occupy the position formerly claimed 
by the colonies ; they were to be subject to no general 
taxation, but placed under a governor appointed by the 
general government ; their laws were to be subject to his 
veto, and to later revision by the central authority. A 
new principle was the preparation of the Territories for 
statehood : the ordmance laid down a series of "Articles 
of Compact^' to govern them after they were admitted 
into the Union. Religious liberty and personal rights 
were to be secured ; general morality and education to 
be encouraged; and finally it was provided that "there 
shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the 
said Territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes 
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." The 
introduction of this clause is due to New England men. 
who were anxious to form a colony on the Ohio, and who 
desired to secure the freedom with which they were 
familiar. The clause had no effect upon slaves held in 
the Territory at the time of the passage of the ordinance, 
but it distinctly expresses the dissatisfaction of the coun- 
try with the system of human slavery. As soon as the 
Northwest Territory was organized, the sale of lands 



17S4-1802.] Territorial Settlement. 109 

began ; but nothing was received in cash till long after 
the Confederation had expired. 

In the southern block of States the territorial settlo- 
ment proceeded more slowly, and was in every way less 
Southern satisfactory. Virginia retained both jurisdic- 
cessions tJQj^ ^^^ \7\xv^ in Kentucky. North Carolina 

in 1790 granted the jurisdiction in what is now Tennessee, 
but every acre of the land had already been granted by the 
State. South Carolina had almost nothing to cede, and 
yielded it in 1787. Georgia stood out on the claim to the 
whole territory between her present boundary and the 
Mississippi, and would not yield until 1802. Slavery was 
not prohibited. 

53. Finances (1781-1788). 

The financial condition of the Confederation was 
throughout deplorable (§ 43). The Revolution imposed 
7inaiicial upon the country a heavy debt. The accounts 
status. of ti^e government were so badly kept that to 

this day it is impossible to state the amount; but it was 
probably about thirty millions, with an annual interest 
charge of about two millions. The necessary expenditure 
for the support of Congress, of the army on a peace-foot- 
ing, and of the executive and judicial boards and de- 
partments, called for about half a million more. The 
continental currency had practically been repudiated, and 
no more could be floated ; Congress had no power to lay 
either direct or indirect taxes ; the post-office had an income 
of about ^^25,000 a year, all of which was expended upon 
the service. Hence Congress fell back on requisitions 
apportioned on the States : one of its principal 
functions was each year to calculate the 
amount necessary for the public service, and to call upon 
the State legislatures for their quota. The total sum re- 
quired from 1 78 1 to 1788 was about ^16,000,000. Of this 



no TJie Confederation. [§§53,54. 

there had actually been paid during the seven years 
$3,500,000 in specie, and $2,500,000 in certificates of 
national indebtedness. The annual cash income of the 
government was therefore about half a million, which was 
entirely absorbed by the necessary running expenses of the 
government, leaving nothing for the payment of interest. 

This condition of virtual bankruptcy might have been 
avoided had Robert Morris been able to carry out the re- 
forms which he proposed when he became superintendent 
of finance in 1781. He found the financial administra- 
Morris'sad- tion Complicated and corrupt. He attempted 
ministration, ^q substitute buslucss methods and punctuality 
of payment. While the war lasted, however, the only 
financial system possible was to squeeze every source of 
revenue, and to pay only what could not be avoided. 
When peace returned, the States would provide no better 
system. To keep up the credit of the government the 
first necessity was the prompt payment of interest : the 
payment of interest required money; money must come 
from taxes, and the State declined to levy the taxes. In 
1784 Morris resigned in despair, and thenceforward a 
Treasury Board mismanaged the finances of the nation. 

May 26, 1 78 1, Congress had taken the important step 
of chartering the Bank of North America. The United 
Bank of States was to furnish part of the capital, and to 

North make the bank its financial agent. Its notes 

menca. ^^^^^^ ^j ^^ ^^ receivable in the duties and taxes 
of every State in the Union." Morris asked Jay to get 
specie from Spain to start the bank. " I am determined," 
said he, " that the bank shall be well supported until it 
can support itself, and then it will support us." Its con- 
nection with the government practically ceased after the 
retirement of Morris in 1784, although it remained under 
a State charter a prosperous and useful institution, and is 
still in existence, a sound and healthy bank. 



1781-1788.] Finances. ill 

Another financial measure was the attempt to correct 

the currency. After the end of the war there was found 

in circulation an extraordinary mixture of 

e currency, ^^^^j ^^^ silver coins of all nations, especially 
the Spanish milled dollar, which had been accepted by the 
Continental Congress as the unit of its issues. All the 
currency was badly counterfeited, defaced, and cHpped. 
In 1782 the quartermaster-general, Timothy Pickering, 
who wa.s about to pay out a part of the French subsidy 
in coin, wrote as follows : " I must trouble you for the 
necessary apparatus for clipping. 'T is a shameful busi- 
ness and an unreasonable hardship on a public officer. 
. . . A pair of good shears, a couple of punches, and 
a leaden anvil of two or three pounds weight. Will you 
inquire how the goldsmiths put in their plugs?" The/ 
Confederation, upon Jefferson's report, July 6, 1785,1 
adopted the dollar as its unit, and provided for a decimal 
ratio ; but a few tons of copper cents made up the only 
national currency put into circulation. 

Towards the end of its existence the Confederation 
found itself on the brink of a default of interest on debts 
Foreign due to foreign governments and bankers, 

loans. France in 1783 made a final loan of six hun- 

dred thousand francs; and from 1783 to 1788 Dutch 
bankers were found who had sufficient confidence in the 
government to advance it $1,600,000 on favorable terms. 
With the proceeds of these loans the government was 
able to pay the accumulated interest on the foreign loans, 
and thus to keep its credit above water in Europe, 

54. Disorders in the States (1781-1788). 

The finances of the States were little better than those 
of the Union. The States controlled all the resources of 
the country ; they could and did raise taxes, but they 



112 The Confederation. [§§54,55- 

appropriated the proceeds to their own pressing necessi- 
ties : and the meagre sums paid to Congress represented 
a genuine sacrifice on the part of many States, 
financial particularly Pennsylvania and Massachusetts 

legislation. Unfortunately the States exercised unlimited 
powers over their own currency and commercial relations. 
Times were hard, debts had accumulated, property had 
been destroyed by the war. State after State passed 
stay laws delaying the collection of debts ; or " tender 
laws " were enacted, by which property at an appraised 
value was made a legal tender. Cattle, merchandise, and 
unimproved real estate were the usual currency thus 
forced upon creditors. After i:)eace was declared, a sec- 
ond era of State paper-money issues came on, and but 
four of the thirteen States escaped the craze. 

These remedies bore hard on the creditors in other 
States, created a feeling of insecurity among business 
Weakness of nien, and gave no permanent relief. The dis- 
the States, contented, therefore, sought a remedy for 
themselves. The Revolutionary War had left behind it 
an eddy of lawlessness and disregard of human life. 
The support of the government was a heavy load upon 
the people. The States were physically weak, and the 
State legislatures habitually timid. In several States 
there were organized attempts to set off outlying por- 
Proposed tions as independent governments. Vermont 
new States. j;ia(j get the example by withdrawing from New 
York in 1777, and throughout the Confederation remained 
without representation either in the New York legislature 
or in Congress. In 1782 the western counties of Penn- 
sylvania and Virginia threatened to break off and form 
a new State. From 1785 to 1786 the so-called State of 
*' Franklin," within the territory of what is now eastern 
Tennessee, had a constitution and legislature and governor, 
and carried on a mild border warfare with the govern- 



1777-1788.] Disorders hi the States. 113 

ment of North Carolina, to which its people owed alle- 
giance. The people of Kentucky and of Maine held con- 
ventions looking toward separation. The year 1786 was 
marked by great uneasiness in what had been supposed 
iiisurrec- ^o be the steadiest States in the union. In 
tions. New Hampshire the opposition was directed 

against the legislature ; but General Sullivan, by his cour- 
age, succeeded in quelling the threatened insurrection 
without bloodshed. In Massachusetts in the fall of 1786 
concerted violence prevented the courts from sitting; and 
an organized force of insurgents under Captain Shays 
threatened to destroy the State government. As a 
speaker in the Massachusetts convention of 1788 said, 
"- People took up arms ; and then if you went to speak to 
them you had the musket of death presented to your 
breast. They would rob you of your property, threaten 
to burn your houses ; obliged you to be on your guard 
night and day. . . . How terrible, how distressing was 
this ! . . . Had any one that was able to protect us come 
and set up his standard, we should all have flocked to it, 
even though it had been a monarch." The arsenal at 
Springfield was attacked. The State forces were met in 
the open field by armed insurgents. Had they been suc- 
cessful, the Union was not worth one of its own repudiated 
notes. The Massachusetts authorities were barely able 
to restore order, and Congress went beyond its constitu- 
tional powers in an effort to assist. 



55. Slavery (1777-1788). 

One evidence that the States were still sound and health- 
ful was the passage of Emancipation acts. The Revolu- 
Anti-sia- tionary principles of the rights of man, the 
very spirit consent of the governed, and political equality, 
had been meant for white men ; but it was hard to deny their 
8 



114 ^^^^ Confcde7'atioii. [§§55,56 

logical application to the blacks. New anti-slavery socie- 
ties were formed, particularly in Pennsylvania ; but the 
first community to act was Vermont. In the Declara- 
Emancipa- ^^^'^ ^^ Rights prefixed to the Constitution of 
tionacts. 1777 it was declared that since every man is 
entitled to life, liberty, and happiness, therefore " no . . . 
person born in this country, or brought here over sea, 
ought to be holden by law to serve any person as a ser- 
vant, slave, or apprentice " after he arrives at the age of 
maturity. A few years later this was supplemented by 
an act abolishing the institution of slavery outright. The 
number of slaves in Vermont was inconsiderable, but in 
1780 two States, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, took 
similar action, affecting several thousand persons. The 
Massachusetts constitution of 1780 declared that "all 
I men are born free and equal." This clause was a few 
; years later interpreted by the courts to mean that after 
' 1780 no person could legally be held as a slave. In Penn- 
sylvania in the same year a gradual Emancipation Act was 
passed, under which persons then in bondage were to 
serve as slaves during their lives; their children, born 
after 1780, were eventually to become free; and no per- 
son was to be brought into the State and sold as a slave. 
Within four years New Hampshire and Connecticut 
passed similar Emancipation Acts. In Rhode Island the 
number of slaves, 3,500, was considerable in proportion 
to the population, and that State therefore made a dis- 
tinct sacrifice for its principles by its act of 1785. Thus 
at the expiration of the Confederation in 1788, all the 
States north of Maryland, except New York and New 
Jersey, had put slavery in process of extinction ; those 
Southern two States followed in 1 799 and 1804. Many 
sentiment. Southem Statesmen hoped that the institu- 
tion was dying out even in the South. Jefferson in 1787 
wrote: " Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect 



1781-178S.] Slavery. Foreign Relations. 115 

that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep for- 
ever." Some steps were taken, particularly m Virginia 
and Kentucky, for the amelioration of the condition of 
the blacks; and the slave-trade was forbidden in most of 
the States of the Union during this period. 



56. Foreign Kelations and Commerce (1781-1788). 

In no respect, not even in finance, was the weakness of 
the Confederation so evident as in the powerlessness of 
Relations Congress to pass commercial laws, and its con- 
wuh England, sequent inability to secure commercial treaties. 
In 1785 John Adams was sent as minister to Great 
Britain, and was received with civility by the sovereign 
from whom he had done so much to tear the brightest 
jewel of his crown; but when he endeavored to come to 
some commercial arrangement, he could make no prog- 
ress. It is easy now to see that the best policy for Great 
Britain would have been in every way to encourage 
American commerce; the Americans were accustomed to 
trade with England; their credits and business connec- 
tions were established with English merchants ; the Eng- 
hsh manufactured the goods most desired by America. 
When the Whigs were driven out of power in 1783, the 
last opportunity for such an agreement was lost. July 2, 
1783, an Order in Council was issued, restraining the 
West India trade to British ships, British built; and on 
March 26, 1785, the Duke of Dorset replied to the 
American commissioners who asked for a treaty : " The 
apparent determination of the respective States to regu- 
late their own separate interests renders it absolutely 
necessary, towards forming a permanent system of com- 
merce, that my court should be informed how far the 
commissioners can be duly authorized to enter into any 
engagement with Great Britain which it may not be in 



ii6 The Confederation. [§§5^,57 

the power of any one of the States to render totally use- 
less and inefficient." 

There were other reasons why the British continued to 
subject American ships in English ports to discrimina- 
tions and duties from which the vessels of most other 
powers were exempt. The treaty of 1783 had provided 
that Congress would recommend to the States just treat- 
ment of the loyalists ; the recommendation was 
oya ists. ,-j^ade. Most of the States declined to comply; 
men who had been eminent before the Revolution re- 
turned to find themselves distrusted, and sometimes were 
mobbed; their estates, which in most cases had been 
confiscated, were withheld, and they could obtain no 
consideration. This was unfriendly, but not a violation 
of any promise. The action of the States in 
placing obstacles in the way of collecting debts 
due to British merchants before the Revolution was a 
vexatious infraction of the treaty. Five States had passed 
laws for the partial or complete confiscation of such 
debts, and even after the treaty Pennsylvania and Massa- 
chusetts passed similar Acts. As an offset, the British 
minister in 1786 declared that the frontier 
posts would not be surrendered so long as the 
obstacles to the collection of British debts were left 
standing. 

The only other power with which the United States 
desired commercial relations without possessing them 
The Span- was Spain. The Eastern States were very 
ish treaty. anxious to obtain privileges of trade. The 
Spanish were wiUing to grant them, but made it a con- 
dition that the Americans should not have the right of 
free navigation of the lower Mississippi. Jay, acting 
under the instruction of Congress, in 1786 negotiated a 
treaty in which he agreed to the Spanish conditions. In- 
stantly the West was aroused, and violent threats were 



1 783- 1 787] Foreign Affairs. 117 

made by the people of Kentucky and the adjacent region 
that if that treaty went into effect they would withdraw 
from the Union. " The tendency of the States," said 
Madison, a few months later, "to violations of the laws of 
nations and treaties . . . has been manifest. . . . The 
files of Congress contain complaints already from almost 
every nation with which treaties have been formed." 



57. Disiiitegration of the Union (1786, 1787). 

The year 1786 marks a crisis in the development of the 
Union. The inefficiency of Congress was reflected in the 
The Con- neglect of constitutional duties by the States: 
federation Rhode Island recalled her delegates, and re- 

violated. . , , , xt t 

fused to appomt new members ; New Jersey 
felt so much injured by a New York tariff that an act was 
passed taxing the hghthouse established by New York 
on Sandy Hook; Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, North 
Carolina, and Georgia already had raised troops on their 
own account and for their own purposes, in violation of 
the Articles of Confederation. Davie, of North CaroHna, 
a little later declared that the " encroachments of some 
States on the rights of others, and of all on those of the 
Confederation, are incontestable proofs of the weakness 
and imperfections of that system." Of the requisition of 
that year for $2,000,000 in specie, only about $400,000 
was paid. Some States offered their own depreciated 
notes, and New Jersey refused to make any contribution 
Danger of Until the offensive New York Acts were wiih- 
anarchy. drawn. In May, 1786, Charles Pinckney on 

the floor of Congress declared that " Congress must be 
invested with more powers, or the federal government 
must fall." 



Ii8 The Confederation. [§58. 



68. Keorganization attempted (1781-1787). 

Before the Articles of Confederation had gone into 
effect, Congress had already proposed a radical amend- 
Fiveper ment ; and within three years it suggested 
cent scneme. ^^^^0 Others. The first proposition, made Feb- 
ruary 3, 1 781, was that the States allow Congress to levy 
an import duty of five per cent, the proceeds to be ap- 
plied '* to the discharge of the principal and interest of 
the debts already contracted ... on the faith of the 
United States for supporting the present war." In the 
course of about a year twelve States had complied with 
this reasonable request. Rhode Island alone stood out, 
and the plan failed. Forthwith Congress presented an- 
Revenue Other financial scheme, which was called a 
scheme. "general revenue plan." April 12, 1783, it 

asked the States to allow Congress to lay low specific 
import duties for twenty-five years, to be collected by 
officers appointed by the States. The States were further 
recommended to lay some effective taxes, the proceeds 
to be set aside for government requisitions. The effect 
was precisely the same as before. Twelve States agreed ; 
but the opposition of New York prevented the first part 
of the plan from being carried out. Not a single State 
had condescended to pay attention to the second request. 

Apparently abandoning any hope of an adequate reve- 
nue, Congress, on April 30, 1 7S4, proposed a third amend- 
Commerce ment, that the States should permit it to pass 
amendment, commercial laws discriminating against foreign 
powers which refused to make commercial treaties. This 
was aimed at Great Britain. Washington urged the 
measure in vigorous language. " We are," said he, 
"either a united people, or we are not so. If the for- 
mer, let us in all matters of national concern act as a 
nation which has a national character to support." Yet 



f78i-i787.] Reorganization attempted. 119 

he could not bring even Virginia to agree to the plan, 
and it quickly failed. 

A poor constitution, which could be amended only by 
unanimous vote, was likely to stifle the nation. A few 
Schemes feeble suggestions were heard that the experi- 
of revision. ment of republican government be given over ; 
others urged that the Americans be brought within one 
centrahzed government. Alexander Hamilton would have 
established a government " controlling the internal po- 
lice of the States, and having a federal judiciary." Upon 
the last of his three schemes, dated 1783, is written: " In- 
tended to be submitted to Congress, but abandoned for 
want of support." Even Washington's vastly greater in- 
fluence had no effect. In a circular letter to the gov- 
ernors, dated June, 1783, he says : " It is indispensable to 
the happiness of the individual States that there should 
be lodged somewhere a supreme power to regulate and 
govern the general concerns of the confederated republic." 
Yet not a State would take the initiative in reforming the 
constitution. 

From 1784 to 1786 pamphlets began to appear in which 
more definite suggestions were made for a new govern- 
ment. Pelatiah Webster proposed a government with 
enlarged powers, and a legislature of two houses. " If 
they disagree," said he, "let them sit still until they re- 
cover their good humor." The method in which the new 
government was to enforce its powers was put in a quaint 
and incisive form. " My principle is," said Webster, " the 
soul that sinneth, it shall die. Every person . . . who 
shall disobey the supreme authority shall be answerable 
to Congress." The idea that the constitution needed 
radical amendment had at last found a lodgment in the 
public mind. 



1 20 TJic Federal Constitution, [§§ 59, 60. 

CHAPTER VI. 
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION (1787-1789). 



59. References. 

Bibliographies. — P. L. Ford, Bibliography and Reference 
List of the Cotistiintio?i ; Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical His- 
tory^ VII. 256-266 ; W. E. Foster, References to the Constitutioti^ 15, 
21 ; Charming and Hart, Guide, §§ 154-156; A. B. Hart, Federal 
Government, §§ 38, 469. 

Historical Maps. — As in § 48 above, § 69 below. 

General Accounts. — J. B. McMaster, People of the United 
States, I. 416-524; R. Hildreth, United States, HI. 482-546; T. 
Pitkin, United States, II. 218-316; H. C. Lodge, Washington, II. 
ch. I.; J. Story, Commentaries, §§ 272-372; J. Schouler, Ujiited 
States, I. 31-70 ; Geo. Tucker, United States, I. ZA1~'i^Z \ Justin 
Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, VII. ch. iv. ; H. Von Hoist, 
Co7istitntional History, I. 47-63 ; J. S. Landon, Constitutional His- 
tory, 59-96 ; F. A. Walker, Making of the Nation, chs. ii., iii. 

Special Histories. — G. T. Curtis, Constitutional History, I. chs. 
xv.-xxxvi. {History of the Constitution, III. 232-604) ; Geo. Bancroft, 
United States, last revision, VI. 195-462 {History of the Const it 7it ion, 
I. 267-278, II. 1-47, 144, 350); William C. Rives, Jajncs A/adison, II. 
313-633 ; H. L. Carson, One Hundredth Anniversary of the Consti- 
tution; J. B. McMaster, PeJinsylvania and the Federal Constitu- 
tio7i ; John Fiske, Critical Period, 1S3-350; S. H. Gay, Madison, 
88-127; J. C. Hamilton, Republic, III. 236-569; J. H. Robinson, 
Sources of the Constitution ; S. B. Harding, Federal Constitution in 
Massachusetts ; C. E. Stevens, Sources of the Constitution; C Bor- 
geaud, Adoption and Amendment of Constitutions ; the various State 
histories. 

Contemporary Accounts. — Journal of the Convention, Madi- 
son's notes, Yates's notes, Luther Martin's letter, proceedings of State 
conventions, — all in Elliofs Debates (5 vols.) ; H. D. Gilpin, Papers 
of James Madison, vols. II., III.; brief references in the works of 
Washington, Madison, Hamilton, and Jefferson ; letters in the biog- 
raphies of Madison, Hamilton, Rufus King, Gerry; The Federalist. — 
Reprints in P. L. Ford, Pamphlets on the Constitution of the United 
States, and Essays on the Constitutiott ; America}! History told by 
Conietnporaries, III. ; Library of American Literature, VI. 



17^7-] Federal Convention assembled. 12 1 



60. The Federal Convention assembled (1787). 

That Congress did not possess the confidence of the 
country was evident from the failure of all its amend- 
A convention ments. It had, therefore, been suggested first 
suggested. by Hamilton in 1780, later by Tom Paine in 
his widespread pamphlet " Public Good," that a conven- 
tion be specially summoned to revise the Articles of 
Confederation. The initiative in the movement was 
finally taken by the States. In 1786 the intolerable con- 
dition of internal commerce caused Virginia to suggest to 
the sister States that a conference be held at Annapolis. 
The few delegates who appeared separated, after recom- 
mending that there be held "a convention of delegates 
Annapolis f^om the different States ... to devise such 
Convention, further provisions as shall appear to them 
necessary to render the constitution of the federal gov- 
ernment adequate." Congress was no longer able to 
resist the movement: on Feb. i, 1787, it resolved that 
a convention be held " for the sole and express purpose 
Action of of revising the Articles of Confederation, and 
Congress. reporting to Congress and the several legis- 
latures such alterations and provisions therein as shall, 
when agreed to by Congress and confirmed by the States, 
render the federal government adequate to the exigencies 
of government and the preservation of the union." 

By May, 1787, delegates to the proposed convention 
had been chosen in all the States except New Hampshire 
Convention and Rhode Island. Many of the ablest and 
assembled. j^^g^ experienced public men were included. 
Among them were Francis Dana and Elbridge Gerry of 
Massachusetts, Alexander Hamilton of New York, Ben- 
jamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, and James Madison and 
George Washington of Virginia. The convention was 
the most distinguished body which had ever assembled 



122 The Federal Coustitiitioii, [§§6o, 6i. 

in America; if its work could not command public con- 
fidence, there was no hope for the Union. 



61. Difficulties of the Convention (1787). 

When on May 25, 1787, the convention assembled at 
Philadelphia, its task, under the call of Congress, was 
Task of the limited to the preparation of amendments to 
convention, the old Confederation. The first formal reso- 
lution to which it came after organization reads as fol- 
lows : "That a national government ought to be 
established, consisting of a supreme legislature, execu- 
tive, and judiciary." The convention from the beginning 
was evidently resolved to recommend a new, elaborate, 
and powerful form of government. The key to this 
action is found in the history of the twelve years from 
1775 to 1787. The country had tried a revolutionary, 
irresponsible, form of government, and it had not worked 
well. It had tried a union of sovereign States; neither 
the Union nor the States had prospered. The time had 
come to change the government in form, in pov/ers, and 
in the means of carrying out its powers. The States must 
be held to their duties; Congress must be restrained; 
local quarrels must cease; revenue must be secured, 
commerce protected, and treaties guaranteed ; the West 
must be saved, and insurrections put down. The first 
duty of the convention was to repair the errors of the 
Confederation. 

Americans have become accustomed to look upon the 
Constitution as a kind of political revelation ; the mem- 
Want of bers of the convention themselves felt no 
authority. sense of Strength or inspiration. They had 
no authority of their own. Their work must be sub- 
mitted for the ratification of States which had been un- 
able to agree upon a single modification of the articles. 



lySy.] Diffictdties of the Conventio7t. 123 

They must encounter the jealousy of Congress and the 
prejudices of the people. While the convention sat, a 
rumor went abroad that they would report in favor of a 
monarchy. 

In order to bring the discussion to a focus, the Virginia 
delegates had agreed upon a plan drawn by Madison, who 
had been in communication with Washington; it was 
presented by Edmund Raiulolph. This plan in the end 
formed the basis of the constitution as adopted. 

No sooner had debate actually begun than the conven- 
tion proved to be divided into many factions. Some 
members, like Patterson, were on principle op- 

Divisions. , ' ^ .. ^1 iM 

posed to a strong government; others, like 
Hamilton, desired to break down the State boundaries, 
and to create a centralized republic. Still more distinct 
was the opposition between the large States and the 
small : the former inclined to a representation based on 
population ; the latter insisted that the States should be 
equal units. Again, the trading States — New England, 
New York, and Maryland — were inclined to grant large 
powers over commerce ; the agricultural States, particu- 
laiiy Virginia, wished to see commerce regulated still 
by the States in part. Another line of division was be- 
tween the slaveholding and the non-slaveholding States ; 
here the champions were Massachusetts on one side, 
and South Carolina on the other. Throughout the 
convention these various elements combined and recom- 
bined as their interests seemed affected. Although there 
were no permanent parties, the members of which regu- 
larly voted together, there was disagreement and disap- 
pointment from the beginning to the end. 



124 T-^i^ Federal Constitution, [§§62,63. 



62. Sources of the Constitution. 

Another popular delusion with regard to the Constitu- 
tion is that it was created out of nothing; or, as Mr. 
Gladstone puts it, that " It is the greatest work ever 
struck off at any one time by the mind and purpose of 
man." The radical view on the other side is expressed 
by Sir Henry Maine, who informs us that the " Constitu- 
tion of the United States is a modified version of the 
British Constitution . . . which was in existence between 
1760 and 1787." The real source of the Constitution is 
American the experience of Americans. They had estab- 
experience. ijshed and developed admirable little common- 
wealths in the colonies ; since the beginning of the 
Revolution they had had experience of State govern- 
ments organized on a different basis from the colonial ; 
and, finally, they had carried on two successive national 
governments, with which they had been profoundly dis- 
contented. The general outline of the new Constitution 
seems to be English ; it was really colonial. The Pres- 
ident's powers of military command, of appointment, 
and of veto were similar to those of the colonial gover- 
nor. National courts were created on the model of 
colonial courts. A legislature of two houses was ac- 
cepted because such legislatures had been common in 
colonial times. In the English Parliamentary system as 
it existed before 1760 the Americans had had no shave; 
the later English system of Parliamentary responsibility 
was not yet developed, and had never been established in 
colonial governments; and they expressly excluded it 
from their new Constitution. 

They were little more affected by the experience of 
other European nations. Just before they assembled, 
Madison drew up an elaborate abstract of ancient, medi- 
aeval, and existing federal governments, of which he sent 



1787] Sources of the Constitution. 1 25 

a copy to Washington. It is impossible to trace a single 
clause of the Constitution to any suggestion in this paper. 
State e.xpe- The chief source of the details of the Con- 
rience. stitution was the State constitutions and laws 

then in force- Thus the clause conferring a suspen- 
sive veto on the President is an almost Hteral transcript 
from the Massachusetts constitution. In fact, the prin- 
cipal experiment in the Constitution was the establish- 
ment of an electoral college; and of all parts of the 
system this has vyorked least as the framers expected. 
The Constitution represents, therefore, the accumulated 
experience of the time ; its success is due to the wisdom 
of the members in selecting out of the mass of colonial 
and State institutions those which were enduring, 

The real boldness of the Constitution is the novelty of 
the federal system which it set up. For the first time in 
history an elaborate written constitution was 
applied to a federation ; and the details were 
so skilfully arranged that the instrument framed for thir- 
teen little agricultural communities works well for forty- 
four large and populous States. A second novelty was a 
system of federal courts skilfully brought into harmony 
with the State judiciary. Even here we see an effect of 
the twelve years experience of imperfect federation. The 
convention knew how to select institutions that would 
stand together; it also knew how to reject what would 
have weakened the structure. 



63. The Great Compromises (1787). 

It was a long time before a compromise between the 
discordant elements could be reached. To declare the 
State sover- Country a centralized nation was to destroy 
eignty. \\^f^ traditions of a century and a half: to 

leave it an assemblage of States, each claiming indepen 



126 The Federal Constitution. [§§(33, 64. 

dence and sovereignty, was to tlirow away the results of 
the Revolution. The convention finally agreed that while 
the Union should be .endowed with adequate powers, the 
States should retain all powers not specifically granted, 
and particularly the right to regulate their own internal 
affairs. 

The next great question all but led to the breaking up 

of the convention. The New Hampshire delegate had 

not vet appeared, and Rhode Island was never 

Represen- , . i 

tation represented in the convention ; the large 

of States. States had therefore a majority of one. On 
June 13 it was voted that the ratio of representation in 
both branches of the legislature should be in proportion 
to the population. Two days later, Patterson of New 
Jersey brought forward a plan satisfactory to the small 
States, by which the old plan of vote by States was to 
be retained, and the Confederation practically contin- 
ued. For many days the two parties were unable to 
agree; the crisis was so serious that on June 28 Frank- 
lin, who was not renowned for piety, moved that thence- 
forward the sessions be opened with prayer. The 
deadlock was finally broken by the so-called Connecticut 
Compromise, adopted July 7 : equal representation was 
to be preserved in the upper house, and proportional rep- 
resentation was to be granted in the lower. 

When it was proposed to levy taxes on the same basis, 

the Southern members objected that their negroes were 

not equal to freemen as producers of wealth. 

Represen- ^ ^ ^^ ■> ■, 

tation On July 12, the matter was adjusted by a 

of slaves. compromise: the Southerners agreed to count 
slaves only at three fifths of their number, in apportion- 
ing both representatives and direct taxes. Since direct 
taxes have been but three times assessed in the history 
of the United States, the practical advantage was on the 
side of the North. 



1787.] Comprofuises. 127 

It was otherwise in the third difficult question. Near 
the end of the convention the commercial and the agri- 
cultural States came into a disagreement, 
ave tra e. jsj^^y England was anxious that Congress 
should have power to pass Acts protecting American 
shipping ; on the other hand, the South desired to con- 
tinue the slave-trade. Pinckney declared that " South 
Carolina can never receive the plan if it prohibits the 
slave-trade;" and Sherman of Connecticut cynically re- 
marked, " The slave-trade is iniquitous ; but inasmuch as 
the point of representation was settled, he should not 
object." On August 24 a third compromise left to Con- 
gress the power of passing Navigation Acts, but forbade 
it to prohibit the slave-trade during twenty years. 

64. Details of the Constitution (1787). 

These difficult points out of the way, the convention 
arranged the details of the new government. One of the 
Difficult principal minor questions was the method of 
questions. presidential election. Many members inclined 
towards an executive council ; instead, it was agreed that 
there should be a President elected by Congress; but 
almost at the last moment, on September 7, the better 
plan of indirect election by the people was adopted. At 
one time the convention had agreed that Congress should 
have the right of veto upon State laws ; it was abandoned, 
and instead was introduced a clause that the Constitution 
should be the supreme law of the land, and powerful 
courts weie created to construe the law. 

In making up the list of the powers of Congress, the 
convention used brief but comprehensive terms. Thus 
^. , . all the difficulties arising out of the unfriendly 

Simplicity .11.1- r /-. 1 1 • • 

of the Con- commercial legislation of States, and their in- 
stitution, terference with foreign treaties, were removed 
by the simple clause : " The Congress shall have Powei 



128 The Federal Constitution. [§§64,65. 

. . . to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and 
among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes." 
The great question of taxation was settled by fourteen 
words : " The Congress shall have Power ... To lay 
and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts, and Excises." 

In a few respects the Constitution was deficient. It 
did not profess to be all-comprehensive, for the details 
of the government were to be worked out in 
Omissions, j.^^^^. statutes. There was, however, no pro- 
vision for future annexations of territory. No safe- 
guards were provided for the proper appointment and 
removal of public officers. The growth of corporations 
was not foreseen, and no distinct power was conferred upon 
Congress either to create or to regulate them. Above 
all, the convention was obliged to leave untouched the 
questions connected with slavery which later disrupted 
the Union. 

On Sept. 17, 17S7, the convention finished its work. 
To the eloquent and terse phraseology of Gouverneur 
The work Morris we owe the nervous English of the 
finished. great instrument. As the members were affix- 
ing their signatures, Franklin remarked, pointing to the 
picture of a sun painted behind the President's chair: 
" I have often and often, ... in the vicissitudes of my 
hopes and fears, looked . . . without being able to tell 
whether it was rising or setting; but now, at length, I 
have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a 
setting sun." 

65. Difficulties of Batification (1787, 1788). 

The text of the Constitution was printed and rapidly 
distributed throughout the Union. It was still but a life- 
Action of less draft, and before it could become an in- 
Congress. strumcnt of government the approving action 
of Congress, of the legislatures, and of State conventions 



1787,1788.] Details. Objections. 129 

was necessary. Congress, on Sept. 28, 1787, unani- 
mously resolved that the Constitution be transmitted to 
Action of the State legislatures. The federal conven- 
legisiatures. tjon had determined that the consideration of 
its work should not depend, like the Articles of Confed- 
eration, upon the slow and unwilling humor of the legis- 
latures, but that in each State a convention should be 
summoned solely to express the wall of the State upon 
the acceptance of the Constitution. It had further 
avoided the rock upon which had been wrecked the 
amendments proposed by Congress ; when nine State 
conventions should have ratified the Constitution, it was 
to take effect for those nine. On the same day that Con- 
gress in New York was passing its resolution, the Penn- 
sylvania legislature in Philadelphia was fixing the day 
for the election of delegates ; all the State legislatures 
followed, except in Rhode Island. 

The next six months was a period of great anxiety and 
of national danger. The Constitution was violently at- 
„. „ tacked in every part of the Union : the Pres- 

stitution ident, it was urged, would be a despot, the 
House of Representatives a corporate tyrant, 
the Senate an oligarchy. The large States protested 
that Delaware and Rhode Island would still neutralize 
the votes of Virginia and Massachusetts in the Senate. 
The federal courts were said to be an innovation. It was 
known that there had been great divisions in the conven- 
tion, and that several influential members had left, or at 
the last moment had refused to sign. "The people of 
this commonwealth," said Patrick Henry, "are exceed- 
ingly uneasy in being brought from that state of full 
security which they enjoyed, to the present delusive ap- 
pearance of things." A special objection was made to the 
lack of a bill of rights, such as existed in State constitu- 
tions. The reply was that the framers of the Constitu- 
9 



I30 The Federal Constitution. [§§65,66. 

tion had deliberately omitted it because Congress was 
in no case to have powers not conferred upon it by the 
Constitution. The argument was not conclusive : Rev. 
Mr. Caldwell, in the North Carolina convention, declared 
that " unalienable rights ought not to be given up if not 
necessary ; " and another member of the same conven- 
tion objected that " if there be no religious test required. 
Pagans, Deists, and Mahometans might obtain offices, 
and . . . the senators and representatives might all be 
pagans." It was even suggested as a serious danger that 
the Pope of Rome might eventually be elected president. 
The friends of the measure, in order to deprecate the 
charge that they aimed at centralization, took upon them- 
^ , ,. selves the name of Federahsts. Their op- 

Federalists „ , , ^ • t- i ^^ , 

and And- poueuts called tnemselves anti-Federahsts, 
Federalists, corresponded with each other, and formed a 
short-lived national party. A shower of pamphlets on 
both sides fell upon the country. Of these the most fa- 
mous and most efficacious was the "Federalist," suc- 
cessive numbers of which were contributed by Hamilton, 
Madison, and John Jay. With a calmness of spirit, a 
lucidity of style, and a power of logic which make it to 
this day one of the most important commentaries on the 
Constitution, the " Federalist " strove to show that the 
Constitution was safe for the people and advantageous 
for the States. 

66. State Conventions (1787, 1788). 

As the State conventions assembled, the excitement 
grew more intense. Four States alone contained within 
First nine ^ few thousands of half the population of the 
States. Union : they were Massachusetts, Virginia, 

New York, and North Carolina. In the convention of 
each of these States there was opposition strong and 
stubborn ; one of them — North Carolina — adjourned 



1787,1788.] State Conventions. 131 

without action ; in the other three, ratification was ob- 
tained with extreme difficulty and by narrow majorities. 

The first State to come under the " New Roof," as the 
Constitution was popularly called, was Delaware. In 
rapid succession followed Pennsylvania, New Jersey, 
Georgia, and Connecticut. In Massachusetts, the sixth 
State, there was a hard fight ; the spirit of the Shays 
Rebellion was still alive ; the opposition of Samuel 
Adams was only overcome by showing him that he was 
in the minority; John Hancock was put out of the power 
to interfere by making him the silent president of the 
convention. It was suggested that Massachusetts ratify 
on condition that a long list of amendments be adopted 
by the new government ; the friends of the Constitution 
pointed out that the plan was simply to ratify a part of 
the Constitution and to reject the rest ; each succeeding 
State would insist on a list of amendments, and the whole 
work must be done over. Feb. 6, 1788, the enthusiastic 
people of Boston knew that the convention, by a vote of 
187 to 167. had ratified the Constitution ; the amendments 
being added, not as a condition, but as a suggestion. 
Maryland, South Carolina, and New Hampshire brought 
the number up to nine. 

Before the ninth ratification was known, the fight had 
been won also in Virginia. Among the champions of 
Virginia and ^^^ Constitution were Madison, Edmund Ran- 
NewYork. dolph, and John Marshall. James Monroe 
argued against the system of election which was des- 
tined twice to make him President. In spite of the deter- 
mined opposition of Patrick Henry, and in spite of a 
proposition to ratify with amendments, the convention 
accepted. New York still held off. Her acquiescence was 
geographically necessary; and Alexander Hamilton, by the 
power of his eloquence and his reason, changed the vote 
of a hostile convention and added the eleventh State. 



132 The Federal Constitution. [§§67,68. 

67. Expiration of the Confederation (1788). 

During the session of the convention in Philadelphia 
Congress had continued to sit in New York, and the 
The old Northwest Ordinance was passed at this time 

Congress. (§52). On Sept. 1 3, 1 788, Congress voted 
that the Constitution had been ratified, and that elections 
should proceed for the officers of the new government, 
which was to go into operation the first Wednesday in 
I\Iarch, 17S9. 

Since Congress and the President must meet some- 
where, it became the duty of the old Congress to fix, 
Seat of at least temporarily, the seat of government, 

government. Trenton, Lancaster, Princeton, and New York 
were suggested. Baltimore was voted ; then, with its 
usual inconsistency, two days later Congress voted for 
New York. An attempt was made to settle the accounts 
of Congress ; but all that could be ascertained was that 
they were in great confusion, and that vouchers had not 
yet been turned in for the expenditure of large sums. 
Congress On October 23 is the last official record: 
expires. " Two States attended." During the next 

five months the only evidences of national life were 
the perfunctory service of a few executive officers, the 
feeble movements of the army, now reduced to about six 
hundred men, and the steady accumulation of unpaid 
interest. 

What, meantime, was the situation of the two States, 

Rhode Island and North Carolina, which had not rati- 

^, , T , , tied the Constitution, and which were, there- 
Rhode Island ' ' 

and North fore, not entitled to take part in the elections? 
They had in 1781 entered into a constitution 
which was to be amended only by unanimous consent; 
their consent was refused ; legally they had a right to 
insist on the continuance of the old Confrress. The new 



1 788.] Expiration of the Confederation, 133 

Constitution was, strictly speaking, unconstitutional ; it 
had been ratified by a process unknown to law. The 
situation was felt to be delicate, and the States were 
for the time being left to themselves. North Carolina 
came into the Union by a ratification of Nov. 21, 
1789. It was suggested that the trade of States which 
did not recognize Congress should be cut off, and Rhode 
Island yielded. May 19, 1790, her ratification completed 
the Union. 

68. Was the Constitution a Compact? 

The third attempt to form an organic union was now 
successfully carried out. The irregular authority of the 
The Coiistitu- Continental Congress had been replaced by 
tion irregular, ^j^^ ^Qg^il but inefficient Confederation ; to this 
was now to succeed an organized government, complete 
in all its departments, and well endowed with powers. 
How had this Constitution been adopted? What was 
the authority which had taken upon itself to diminish the 
powers of the States, and to disregard the clauses which 
required unanimous consent to amendments ? Was the 
new Constitution an agreement between eleven States, or 
was it an instrument of government for the v/hole people } 
Upon this question depends the whole discussion about 
the nature of the Union and the right of secession. 

The first theory is that the Constitution was a compact 
made between sovereign States. Thus Hayne in 1830 
Compact declared that " Before the Constitution each 
theory. State was an independent sovereignty, possess- 

ing all the rights and powers appertaining to independent 
nations. . . . After the Constitution was formed, they re- 
mained equally sovereign and independent as to all powers 
not expressly delegated to the federal government. . . . 
The true nature of the Federal Constitution, therefore, is 
... a compact to which the States are parties." The 



134 Tlie Federal Constitution. l§68. 

importance of the word " compact " is that it means an 
agreement which loses its force when any one of the par- 
ties ceases to observe it; a compact is little more than a 
treaty. Those who framed the Constitution appeared to 
consider it no compact ; for on May 30, 1 787, Mr. Ran- 
dolph moved that " no treaty or treaties among the whole 
or part of the States, as individual sovereignties, would be 
sufficient." In fact, the reason for the violent opposition 
to the ratification of the Constitution was that when once 
ratified, the States could not withdraw from it. 

Another view is presented by Webster in his reply to 
Hayne : "It is, sir, the people's Constitution, the people's 
Constitution government, made for the people, made by the 
theory. people, and answerable to the people. The 

people of the United States have declared that this 
Constitution shall be the supreme law." It is plain that 
the Constitution does not rest simply upon the consent 
of the majority of the nation. No popular vote was 
taken or thought of; each act of ratification set forth 
that it proceeded from a convention of the people of a 
State. 

The real nature of the new Constitution appears in 
the light of the previous history of the country. The 
Basis of the Articles of Confederation had been a com- 
Constitution. p^Qt. One of the principal reasons why the 
Confederation was weak was that there was no way of 
compelling the States to perform their duties. The new 
Constitution was meant to be stronger and more perma- 
nent. The Constitution was, then, not a compact, but an 
instrument of government similar in its origin to the con- 
stitutions of the States. The difference was that, by 
general agreement, it was not to take effect until it was 
shown that in at least nine States the people v/ere willing 
to live under it. Whatever the defects of the Confedera- 
tion, however humiliating its weakness to our national 



1788.] Was the Constitution a Compact f 135 

pride, it had performed an indispensable service : it had 
educated the American people to the point where they 
were willing to accept a permanent federal union. As 
the "Federalist" put it, "A nation without a national 
government is an awful spectacle." 



36 Organization of the Government. [§§69,70. 



CHAPTER VII. 

ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT 
(1789-1793). 



69. References. 

Bibliographies. — W. E. Foster, References to Presidential 
Admi7tistrations, 1-5 ; References to the Constitution^ 18, 19; Justin 
Winsor, Narrative and Critical History^ VII. 299-309, 323-329, 413- 
418, 446, 454, VIII. App. ; P. L. Ford, Bibliotheca Haniiltonia ; 
Charming and Hart, Guide, §§ 157-161. 

Historical Maps. — Nos. i and 3, this volume, and No. i in W. 
Wilson, Divisio7i and Reunion {Epoch Maps, Nos. 6, 7, and 8); T. 
MacCoun, Historical Geography ; Scribner, Statistical Atlas, Plate 13. 

General Accounts. — J. B. McMaster, People of the United 
States, I. 525-604; II. 1-88; R. Hildreth, Unded States, IV. 25-410; 
J. Schouler, United States, I. 74-220 ; H. Von Hoist, Constitutional 
History, I. 64-1 11; T. Pitkin, Political and Civil History^ II. 317- 
355; Geo. Tucker, United States, I. 3S4-503 ; J. S. Landon, Co7i- 
stitutional History, 97-119 ; Bryant and Gay, Popular History, IV. 
100-123. 

Special Histories. — George Gibbs, Memoirs of the Administra- 
tions of Washington and Adams, I. 28-S8 ; J. C. Hamilton, History 
of the Republic, IV.; W. G. Sumner, Alexander Hamilton; H. C. 
Adams, Taxation iti the United States (1789-18 16) ; W. G. Sumner, 
Fifiancier and Finances of the AtnericaJi Revolution, II. chs. xvii.- 
xxxii.; J. T. Morse, Life of Hajnilton, I. chs. vii.-xii. ; M. P. Follet, 
Speaker; H. C. Lodge, Hamilton, 88-152, and Washington, II. 
1-128 ; J. T. Morse, John Adams, 241-264, and y^r^i^rj-^;/, 96-145 ; 
S. H. Gay, Madison, 128-192. 

Contemporary Accounts. — W. Maclay, Journal (17S9-1791) 
(a racy account of the Senate in the First Congress) ; Thomas Jeffer- 
son, Anas, in Works,\y.. 87-185 (confessedly made up twenty-five 3fears 
later) ; William Sullivan, Familiar Letters on Public Characters, 36- 
47 (written in reply to Jefferson); Joel Barlow, Vision of Columbus, 
1787 (an epic poem) ; correspondence in works of Washington, Ham- 
ilton, Madison, Jefferson, and John Jay; newspapers, especially the 
Coliembian Ccntincl, Gazette of the United States, National Gazette. 
— Reprints in American History told by Cojitcmporaries, III. 



^789.] Geography iu lySg. 137 



70. Geography of the United States in 1789. 

What were the physical, social, and political con- 
ditions under which the new government was to be 
I5()iindary established? In 1789 the exterior boundaries 
questions. Qf f^\^Q country wcrc loosely defined by treaty 
(§ 46), but were not yet marked out, and there were sev- 
eral serious controversies. From the mouth of the St, 
Croix River to the head of the Connecticut the boundary 
was in confusion, and no progress had been made towards 
settling it. The v/ater-line through the St. Lawrence and 
the Lakes was still unadjusted. It was found that the 
headwaters of the Mississippi lay to the south of the 
Lake of the Woods, so that there was a gap on the 
northwest. On the south Spain disputed the right of 
Great Britain to establish the boundary, insisted that 
her own undoubted settlements lay within the territory 
claimed by the United States, and declined to grant the 
free navigation of the lower Mississippi to the sea. Still 
more humiliating was the presence of British garrisons 
at Fort Niagara, Detroit, and other points within the un 
disputed boundaries of the United States. 

The interior boundaries of the country were in a like 
unsettled condition. Neither North Carolina nor Georgia 
Interior had yielded up their western claims (§ 52). 
boundaries. Vermont had not yet been recognized by New 
York as outside of her jurisdiction, and the Western Re- 
serve lay along the southern shore of Lake Erie as an 
outlying part of Connecticut. No territorial government 
had been established for the Northwest territory, although 
settlement had begun to pour in. The southern territory 
was in complete confusion : Kentucky and the Tennessee 
valley were practically independent communities ; and 
Georgia claimed the whole region south of them. 



138 Organization of t lie Government. [§71 



71. The People of the United States in 1789. 

A census taken in 1790 gives us the number of inhab- 
itants as a little under 4,000,000. Of these, 750,000 — 
nearly one-fifth of the whole population — were 
negroes. Of the 3,170,000 whites, the ances- 
tors of eight-tenths were probably English, and most of 
the others spoke English and were a homogeneous part 
of the community. Counting by sections, the States north 
of Maryland had a population of 1,968,000, and those 
south of Pennsylvania had 1,925,000; the States which 
were to be permanently slave-holding contained, therefore, 
a population about equal to that of New England and the 
Middle States. Only a small part of this population was 
to be found west of the mountains. Settlement was work- 
ing into central New York, southwest Pennsylvania, the 
neighboring parts of Virginia, and the upper waters 
of the Tennessee ; but the only considerable western 
community was in Kentucky. These distant settlers had 
an important influence on the Union, since they lay 
within easy reach of the Spanish settlements, and occa- 
sionally threatened to withdraw. 

The intellectual life of the people was little developed. 
Schools had not sensibly improved since colonial times. 
Intellec- The graduating classes of all the colleges in 
tual life. lygfj count Up to about 170.4. There were but 

two schools of medicine in the country, and no regular 
school of law. In one department of literature alone were 
the Americans eminent : the state papers of public men 
such as Washington, Hamilton, and Jefferson are writ- 
ten with the force and directness of the best school of 
English. Poetry there was ; its character may be judged 
by a single quotation from Barlow's " Vision of Colum- 
bus," a favorite epic, published in 1787 : — 



17S9.] The People. 139 

" There stood stern Putnam, seamed with many a scar, 
The veteran honours of an earlier war ; 
Undaunted Stirling, dreadful to his foes, 
And Gates and Sullivan to vengeance rose ; 
While brave McDougall, steady and sedate, 
Stretched the nerved arm to ope the scene of fate." 

In economic conditions the United States were little 
more advanced than had been the colonies. The coun- 
Economic try abounded in natural resources : timber 
conditions. Q\:^f\ |-]-jq whole Appalachian range, and spread 
far into the Mississippi valley, the virgin soil, and par- 
ticularly the rich and untouched prairies of the We.st, 
were an accumulation of unmeasured wealth. Yet it was 
little easier to get from the sea to Lake Erie or to the Ohio 
than it had been forty years before. It seemed impos- 
sible that a country could be held together when it was 
so large that a courier might be two months on his way 
from the seat of government to the most distant frontier; 
and Jefferson predicted that it would be a thousand years 
before the country would be thickly settled as far west 
as the Mississippi. The chief resource of the country 
was agriculture ; almost every State raised its own food, 
and there were considerable exports, particularly of wheat 
and flour. Manufactures were chiefly imported from Eng- 
land, the only widely known American industry being the 
distilling of New England rum. The chief source of 
wealth was still commerce; in 1790 the exports and im- 
ports were about twenty million dollars each, or five dol- 
lars per head of the population. The movement of vessels 
to foreign ports was tolerably free, but the vexatious re- 
strictions and taxes imposed by England tended to throw 
an undue part of the profit into the hands of the English 
merchants. Business of every kind was much hampered 
by the want of bank capital and by the state of the 
currency. 



140 Orgmiizatioji of the Government. [§§72,73. 



72. Political Methods in 1789. 

The chief intellectual interest of the people was in 
politics. The State and the national constitutions both 
protected freedom of speech, and Americans 
political were accustomed freely to discuss public 

theories. i^^Yi and public mcasures. Public opinion 
was, however, created by a comparatively small num- 
ber of persons, —the leading planters of the South, 
merchants and great families in the Middle States, the 
gentlemen and clergy in New England. Already two dif- 
ferent schools of political thought had appeared. The 
one is typified by John Adams's elaborate work, " The 
Defence of the American Constitutions," published in 
1787. "The rich, the well-born, and the able," he says, 
'* . . . must be separated from, the mass and placed by 
themselves in a senate." The leading spirit in the other 
school was Thomas Jefferson. He wrote in 1787 : " I 
am persuaded that the good sense of the people will 
always be found the best army. They may be led astray 
for a moment, but will soon correct themselves." The 
accepted principle of republican government was never- 
theless that there should be a Hmited number of voters, 
follov.'ing the lead of experienced statesmen of a higher 
social class. 

A few symptoms of a change in political methods were 
visible. In 1788 a nominating convention was held in 
Political Harrisburg; this method of selecting candi- 
methods. dates by representatives of the voters of their 
party was rapidly extended. In 1789 the secret Colum- 
bian Order, or Tammany Society, was formed in New 
York. At first benevolent and literary, the correspondent 
of the Massachusetts Historical Society, by 1800 it had 
become a political organization and was controlling local 
elections. In several States, and particularly in New 



1789.] Political Methods, 141 

York, factions had grown up about leading families of 
public men ; in a few years they became pohtical machines 
subject to the direction of a few leaders. Buying of votes 
was almost unknown, but there was much disorder at 
elections. 

In many respects both the State and national govern- 
ments were weak. The legislatures had, during the 
Respect for Revolution, been accustomed to ride rough- 
authonty. shod over the minority, and they were still 
inclined to grant charters and privileges only to party 
friends ; Federalist legislatures would charter only Fed- 
eralist banks. Americans enjoyed their individual liberty, 
but resented the use of force either for collecting taxes 
or for upholding the authority of government; and the 
States were not accustomed unhesitatingly to accept the 
action of Congress. On the other hand, the Anglo-Saxon 
respect for law was recovering from the shock of 'the 
Revolution. There was a strong feeling of loyalty to the 
State governments, and the beginning of national inter- 
est and patriotism. By common consent the new Con- 
stitution was put quietly into effect by those who expected 
its success. 

73. Organization of Congress (1789). 

The first step in the organization of the government 
was to elect senators and representatives. The Senate 
First con- ^^^ Small, and was expected to be a kind of 
gressional executive council. In due time John Adams 
was chosen vice-president, and became chair- 
man. The Senate sat for several years in secret ses- 
sion ; but from the journal of William Maclay, senator 
from Pennsylvania, we learn many interesting details, 
and know that the casting vote of the chairman was 
often necessary to settle important questions. The time 
and manner of electing members of the House was leit 



142 Organization of the Goverjirnent. [§§73,74 

to the States. In some cases all the members from a 
State were elected on one general ticket ; in others the 
State was divided into districts. Among the distinguished 
members were Theodore Sedgwick and Elbridge Gerry 
of Massachusetts, Jonathan Trumbull of Connecticut, 
and James Madison of Virginia. From the first, the 
custom obtained that a member of the House should be 
a resident of the district from which he was chosen. 

The House organized April 6. In the Speaker ap- 
peared an officer until now unknown in the Federal 
Organization System. At first he was only a moderator ; 
of Congress, after about a year he was given the power to 
appoint committees; and from that time dates the growth 
of those powers which have made him second in influence 
only to the President of the United States. The pro- 
cedure was modelled partly on that of the old Congress, 
and partly upon that of the State legislatures : it is 
noticeable, however, that the system of permanent com- 
mittees so familiar during the previous twelve years was 
not immediately readopted ; it began to come in about 
1794. The first act on tl^e statute book was passed 
June I, 1789, and prescribed a form of oath. Congress 
voted itself a moderate per diem of six dollars. The 
only other important question relative to the form of 
Congress was that of apportionment. On April 5, 1792, 
a bill allotting the members of the House to the States 
was the subject of the first executive veto. 

One important function was performed before Congress 
adjourned, by submitting to the States twelve amendments 
Amend- ^o the Constitution. These were made up by 

ments. comparison of the propositions submitted by 

the States at the time of ratification, and practically con- 
stituted a brief bill of rights. In due time all but two 
unimportant clauses were ratified by the States, and the 
great objection to the Constitution was thus removed. 



1 7 89, 1 790-1 Congress. 1 43 

The importance of the First Congress was that the 
general forms adopted for the transaction of its business 
have continued without serious change to the present 
day. Its officers have increased, its powers have devel- 
oped, its political importance has expanded ; but its par- 
liamentary procedure is still much the same as in 1789. 

74. Organization of the Executive (1789, 1790). 

While the senators and representatives were being 
selected, Presidential electors were also chosen in all the 
The first eleven States except New York. The States 
President. exercised their constitutional discretion : in 
some the electors were chosen by the legislatures, in 
others by general ticket, and in others by districts. In 
one thing they agreed: when quorums of both houses 
were obtained, so that the votes could be counted, April 6, 
1789, it was found that every elector had cast a ballot for 
George Washington. On April 30 he took the oath of 
office in Federal Hall on Wall Street, New York, and 
Maclay records for the benefit of posterity that "he was 
dressed in deep brown, with metal buttons with an eagle 
on them, white stockings, a bag, and sword." As the 
presidency was an entirely new office, there was much 
difficulty and some squabbling over the details of his 
place. The question of title was raised; and it was 
understood that Washington would have liked to be 
called " His High Mightiness, the President of the 
United States and Protector of their Liberties." No 
action was taken, and the simple title of " Mr, Presi- 
dent" was by common consent adopted. 

The duties of the President were clearly defined by 
the Constitution. It now became necessary to make 
some provision for subordinate executive officers. Here 
for the first time the importance of the legislation of the 



144 Organization of the Government. [§§74,75. 

First Congress is visible. They had it in their power to 
put flesh and blood upon the dry bones of the Consti- 
ExecLitive tution : they might surround the President 
departments, ^,^^\x\-^ a vigorous, active, and well-centred body 
of subordinates ; or they might go back to the practice 
of the old Congress, and create executive officers who 
should be practically the servants of Congress. They 
resolved to trust the President. The first executive 
department to be established was the Department of For- 
eign Affairs, of which the name was a little latter changed 
to the Department of State. In due time Thomas Jef- 
ferson was appointed Secretary of State ; among his 
successors have been John Marshall, James Madison, 
James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, Martin 
Van Buren, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, James 
Buchanan, and William H. Seward. The War Depart- 
ment bill passed August 7, and Henry Knox, who had 
been the head of the army under the old system, was 
Treasury reappointed. In establishing the Treasury 
Department. Department a strong effort was made to cre- 
ate a Secretary of the Treasury as an agent of Con- 
gress rather than as the officer of the President. The 
details of the office were therefore carefully regulated by 
the statute, and specific duties were assigned to the Sec- 
retary. He was, however, appointed by the President, 
and the question was raised whether he was also remova- 
ble by the President. The Senate insisted that the re- 
moval should not be valid without its approval; the 
House insisted that the President should be unrestrained; 
by the casting vote of the Vice-President the latter sys- 
tem was adopted The first Secretary of the Treasury 
was Alexander Hamilton. 

Then came tlie question of the relations of cabinet 
officers to Congress. Maclay records that on August 
22, 1790, the President appeared in the Senate with Knox, 



17S9, I790-J Executive and Judiciary. 145 

and intimated that the Secretary of War would explain 
a proposed Indian treaty. The only remark that Knox 
seems to have made was : " Not till Saturday 
whh Con- next ; " but Maclay was convinced that he 
g>ess. ^y^g there " to overawe the timid and neutral 

part of the Senate." With some displeasure, the Senate 
referred the matter to a committee. Hamilton desired 
an opportunity to address the House ; but it was not 
accorded, nor does it appear that the privilege has ever 
been granted to any cabinet officer. Knox's speech is the 
nearest approach to the Parliamentary system which has 
been known in Congress. 



75. Organization of the Courts (1789-1793). 

By the Constitution there was to be a supreme court 
and such inferior courts as Congress should create. By 
Thejudi- the Act of Sept. 24, 1789 the federal judicial 
ci.iry Act. system was organized substantially as it now 
stands. Following the precedent of some of the States, 
two grades of inferior courts were created, — the district 
and the circuit. The judicial business of the country 
was small, and for the time being the supreme justices 
were to hold the circuit courts. Prosecuting officers and 
marshals were appointed, and here is to be found the 
germ of the present system of limited terms for public 
officials : they were to have commissions which should 
run four years ; it seems to have been tacitly under- 
stood that they would be reappointed. A few brief 
clauses defined the manner in which suits could be 
appealed from the State courts to the national. This 
statute has made it possible to apply federal law in the 
same way throughout the Union: errors of construction, 
and divergencies of judgment involving the national Con- 
stitution, laws, and treaties, are corrected through this 
10 



146 Orgaiiizatioii of the Government. [§§75>7^'. 

power of appeal to one central supreme tribunal. A 
little later an Act was passed defining crimes against the 
United Slates. The courts were speedily organized, and 
John Jay of New York was made the first chief justice. 

For a few years no important decisions were made by 
the court; but in February, 1793, a suit was entertained 
Important against the State of Georgia; soon after, one 
decisions. ^y^g entered against the State of Massachu- 
setts. Georgia replied by passing a statute punishing 
with death any United States marshal who might attempt 
to serve a process upon her. Massachusetts urged the 
passing of an eleventh constitutional amendment ; it was 
duly adopted in 1798, and prohibited suits before a fed- 
eral court against a State, by a citizen of another State 
or of a foreign country. 



76. Revenue and Protection (1789-1792). 

The first necessity of the new government was to lay 
the taxes authorized under the new Constitution for its 
Revenue own support, for the payment of interest, and 
scheme. eventually for sinking the principal of the 

public debt. Two days after the House organized, Mad- 
ison introduced a scheme, which eventually passed into 
the first tariff act. On May 13, 1789, after agreeing to a 
duty on "looking-glasses and brushes," it was moved to 
lay a tax of ten dollars each on imported slaves. A 
Georgia member protested against the tax as intended 
for the benefit of Virginia, and "hoped gentlemen would 
have some feeling for others ; " the proposition failed. 

Another amendment, however, raised the most impor« 
tant political question connected with taxation. April 
Question of 9» 1789? ^ Pennsylvania member \vished to 
protection. increase the list of dutiable artxles, so as 
"to encourage the productions of our couMry and to 



1759-1791-] Revenue and Protection. 147 

protect our infant manufactures.'" A South Carolina 
member at once objected. Two days later a petition 
from Baltimore manufacturers asked Congress to im- 
pose on "all foreign articles which can be made in 
America such duties as will give a just and decided 
preference to our labors." New England opposed the 
proposed duties because molasses, hemp, and flax were 
included ; molasses was a " raw material " for the manu- 
facture of rum ; and hemp and flax were essential for the 
cordage of New England ships. Lee of Virginia moved 
to strike out the duty on steel, since a supply could not 
be furnished within the United States, and he thought it 
an "oppressive, though indirect, tax on agriculture." 

The act as passed July 4, 1789, bore the title of " An 
Act for the encouragement and protection of manufac- 
The first tures ; " yet the highest ad valorem duty was 
tariff. fifteen per cent. To be sure, the high rates 

of freight at that time afforded a very large additional 
protection ; but no general revenue act ever passed by 
Congress has imposed so low a scale of duties. 

By the time the revenue had begun to come in under 
this Act, Secretary Hamilton had worked out in his mind 
Hamilton's ^ general financial system, intended to raise 
scheme \\^^ credit and to strengthen the authority of 

the Union. The first step was to provide a sufficient 
revenue to pay running expenses and interest. Finding 
that the first tariff produced too little revenue, in 1790 
and again in 1792 it was slightly increased, at Hamilton's 
suggestion. The second part of his scheme was to lay 
an excise, an internal duty upon distilled spirits. In 
1 791 a tax, in its highest form but twenty-five cents a 
gallon, was laid on spirits distilled from foreign or do- 
mestic materials. The actual amount of revenue from 
this source was always small; but Hamilton expected 
that the people in the interior would thus become accus- 



148 Organization of the Government. [§77. 

tomed to federal officers and to federal law. The effect 
of the revenue Acts was quickly visible: in 1792 the an- 
nual revenue of the government had risen to 13,600,000 



77. National and State Debts (1789,1790). 

The third part of Hamilton's scheme was to fund 
the national debt into one system of bonds, and to pay 
The debt the interest. When he assumed control of the 
funded. Treasury he found, as nearly as could be cal- 

culated, ten millions of foreign debt with about two mil- 
lions of accrued interest, and twenty-nine millions of 
domestic debt with eleven millions of accrued interest, — 
a total of more than fifty-two millions. So far as there 
was any sale for United States securities they had fallen 
to about twenty-five per cent of their par value. Jan. 
14, 1790, Hamilton submitted one of a series of elaborate 
financial reports: it called on Congress to make such 
provision for principal and interest as would restore con- 
fidence. By this time an opposition had begun to rise 
against the great secretary, and Madison proposed to 
inquire in each case what the holder of a certificate of 
debt had paid for it ; he was to be reimbursed in that 
amount, and the balance of the principal was to be paid 
to the original holder.'^ Hamilton pointed out that in 
order to place future loans the Treasury must assure the 
public that bonds would be paid in full to the person 
holding a legal title. Congress accepted Hamilton's view, 
and an act was passed by which the interest was to be 
promptly paid, and an annual sum to be set apart for the 
redemption of the principal. The securities of the United 
States instantly began to rise, and in 1793 they were 
quoted at par. The credit of the government was re- 
established. 

Now came a fourth part of Hamilton's scheme, upon 



1789,1790-] National and State Debts. 149 

which he laid great stress : he proposed that the outstand- 
ing State debts should likewise be taken over by the gen- 
Assumption ^ral government. The argument was that the 
proposed. States had incurred their debts for the common 
purpose of supporting the Revolution. There was strong 
opposition, particularly from States like Virginia, which 
had extinguished the greater part of their own debt. 
The House showed a bare majority in favor of the 
assumption project; on the appearance of members from 
North Carolina, which had just entered the Union, that 
majority was, on April 12, 1790, reversed. 

Meanwhile the old question of the permanent seat of 
the federal government had been revived, and, as in the 
The seat of days of the Confederation, it seemed impos- 
government. ^^\^ ^q agree. It was expected that the 
capital would lie somewhere in the Northern States ; at 
one time Germantov/n was all but selected. The Vir- 
ginia members suddenly took fire, and Lee declared that 
"he was averse to sound alarms or introduce terror into 
the House, but if they were well founded he thought it 
his duty;" and Jackson of Georgia declared that "this 
will blow the coals of sedition and injure the Union." 
The matter was laid over until the middle of 1790. It 
was evident that the friends of assumption were in a 
small minorit}', and the friends of a Northern .capital in 
a small majority. Hamilton worked upon Jefferson to 
secure a compromise. The matter was adjusted 

Compromise. „ t.t i 

at jeiiersons table: a few Northern votes 
were obtained for a Southern capital, and two Virginia 
members agreed to vote for assumption. By very narrow 
majorities it was therefore agreed that the national capital 
should be placed on the Potomac River, and that State 
debts amounting to $21,500,000 should be assumed. A few 
months later the President selected the site of the present 
national capital, and in due time the debts were taken up 



150 Organization of the Government. [§§78,79- 



78. United States Bank (1791, 1792). 

Having thus reorganized the finances of the country, 
Hamilton now proposed the fifth part of his scheme, — the 
A bank establishment of a national bank. In a report 

proposed. q£ T>q,q.. 14, 1790, he presented the sub- 
ject to the attention of Congress. He urged that it 
would benefit the public by offering an investment, that 
it would aid the government in making loans and by col- 
lecting taxes, and that its notes would be a useful cur- 
rency. Hamilton drafted a bill, which was an adaptation 
of the charter of the Bank of England. The capital of 
$10,000,000, and the management of the bank, were to 
be private ; but the government was to be a stockholder, 
and to have the right of requiring periodical statements 
of the bank's condition. 

The Senate passed the bill without a division, substan- 
tially as drawn by Hamilton. Apparently it was on the 
point of going through the House, when Smith of South 
Carolina objected, and Jackson of Georgia declared that 
he had never seen a bank bill in the State of Georgia; 
"nor will they ever benefit the farmers of that State 
or of New York ; " and he called it an unconstitutional 
monopoly. 

After a week's debate on the question whether the 

bank was authorized by the Constitution, it passed the 

House by a vote of 39 to 20, and was sent to 

The ques- -^ -,-, ■, r ^ • • c 

tionof im- the President. H^ called for the opmions ot 
phed powers. ^^^^ members of his cabinet in writing, and the 
answers submitted by Hamilton and Jefferson are still 
among the most important documents on the construction 
of the Constitution. Jefferson's standpoint was simply 
that, since the Constitution nowhere expressly authorized 
the creation of a bank, Congress had gone beyond its 
powers. Hamilton asserted that if the bank were "neces- 



1789-179'] National Bank. 151 

sary and proper to" carry out any of the specific powers, 
such as taxation and the borrowing of money, then Con- 
gress might create a bank, or any other public institution, 
to serve its ends." The President accepted Hamilton's 
view, and the act was signed. The capital of the bank 
was speedily subscribed, and it immediately entered on a 
prosperous and useful career. 

79. Slavery Questions (1789-1798). 

The question of the extent of the pow"ers of Congress 
had already once been raised. On February ii and 
Anti-slavery 1 2, 1 790, there were presented to Congress two 
memorials, memorials, the one the " Address of the People 
called Quakers, in their Annual Assembly convened ; " 
the other the " Memorial of the Pennsylvania Society for 
Promoting the Abolition of Slavery." These memorials 
asl:cd Congress to " exert upright endeavors, to the full 
extent of your power, to remove every obstruction to pub- 
lic righteousness," particularly in the matter of slavery. 
The motion to commit instantly roused Southern mem- 
bers. Jackson of Georgia said that " any extraordinary 
attention of Congress to the petition would hold their 
property in jeopardy." The matter was sent to a sub- 
committee, composed chiefly of Southern members. On 
March 8th that committee reported the principles under 
which Congress acted during the next seventy years. 
They said that Congress had no power to interfere with 
slavery or the treatment of slaves within the States ; 
they might pass laws regulating the slave-trade, but 
could not then stop the importation of slaves from for- 
eign countries into the United States. Another resolu- 
tion, to the effect that Congress would exercise its powers 
for the humane principles of the memorial, was struck 
out by the House. The anti-slavery organizations from 
which these memorials had proceeded kept up a brisk 



152 Organization of the Government, [§§79,80 

fusillade of petitions. In some cases the House refused 
to receive them, but Congress did pass several laws re- 
ducing the evils of the slave-trade. 

In 1793 the question came up, how fugitive slaves 
should be restored if they had fled and taken refuge in 
Fugitive another State. An act was passed by which 
slaves. the United States assumed authority in the 

matter; the claimant was simply to satisfy any national 
or State magistrate that he was entitled to the person 
claimed. The act had hardly gone into effect before 
a fugitive was apprehended in Massachusetts. Josiah 
Quincy, who was employed to defend him, tells us that he 
" heard a noise, and turning round he saw the constables 
lying sprawling on the floor, and a passage opening 
through the crowd, through which the fugitive was taking 
his departure, without stopping to hear the opinion 
of the court." From the very first, therefore, we find in 
vigorous action the paraphernalia of the later anti-slavery 
movement, — societies, petitions, laws, and deliberate 
violation of laws. 

80. The Success of tlis new Government. 

The end of Washington's first administration in March, 
1793, saw the government completely organized, and ac- 
^^ cepted throughout the Union. The distinction 

The govern- , ^ r • ^ ^ r ^ ^ • 

ment estab- between fricuds and opponents of the Consti- 
iished. tution had entirely disappeared. There was 

no longer any suggestion of substantial amendment. Two 
Conpresses had o-one through their work, and had accus- 
tomed the people to a national legislature. The President 
had made appointments, sent ambassadors, commanded 
the army, and vetoed bills , and yet there was no fear of 
a monarchy. The national courts were in regular and 
undisturbed session. The Union was complete, and two 
new States, Vermont and Kentucky, had been admitted. 



I 



1793-] Success. 153 

This remarkable success was due in considerable part 
to the personal influence of a few men. Washington's 
great popularity and his disinterested use of his new pow- 
ers had taken away a multitude of fears. The skill of 
Hamilton had built up a successful financial system. In 
Congress Madison had been efficient in working out the 
details of legislation. Washington, with his remarkable 
judgment of men, had selected an able staff of officials, 
representing all the sections of the country. 

Yet, as Washington himself had said, " Influence is not 
government." One of the chief elements of the Union's 
strength was that it pressed lightly upon the 
Prosperity, people. For the first time in the history of 
America there was an efficient system of import duties. 
They were almost the sole form of taxation, and, like all 
indirect taxes, their burden was not felt. Above all, the 
commercial benefits of the new Union were seen from 
North to South. Trade between the States was absolutely 
unhampered, and a brisk interchange of products went 
on. The country was prosperous ; its shipping increased, 
and foreign trade was also growing steadily. 

So far the Union had met no violent resistance either 
from insurgents or from the States. In the Virginia con- 
Relations with vention of 1788 Patrick Henry had said: "I 
the States. never will give up that darling word 'requisi- 
tions ; ' my country may give it up, the majority may wrest 
it from me, but I never will give it up till my grave." 
Nevertheless, when the requisitions on the States were 
given up, the chief cause of dispute in the Union was 
removed. Up to this time the only distinctly sectional 
legislation had been the assumption of the State debts 
and the fixing of the national capital; and these two 
had been set off against each other. If peace continued, 
there was every prospect of a healthy growth of national 
spirit. 



54 Federal Supremacy. [§§ 81, 82. 

CHAPTER VIII. 
FEDERAL SUPREMACY (1793-1801). 



81. References. 

Bibliographies. — W. E. Foster, References to Presidential 
Administi-ations^ i-S ; Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical His- 
j'^;-;>/, VII. 294-314, 319, 320, 329-336, 454-456, 513-519; Channing 
and Hart, Gtiide^ §§ 162, 166. 

Historical Maps. — Nos. i, 4, this volume {Epoch Maps, Nos. 
7, 9) ; MacCoun, Historical Geography ; Scribner, Statistical Atlas, 
Plate 13; J. Morse, A?nerican Geography . 

General Accounts. — J. B. McMaster, United States, 11. 89- 
557; H. Von Hoist. Constitutional History, I. 112-167; J. Schouler, 
Uttited States, I. 221-501; R. Hildreth, United States, IV. 411-704; 
V. 25-418; T, Pitkin, United States, II. 356-500 (to 1797); George 
Tucker, United States, I. 504-62S ; II. 21-145; Bryant and Gay, 
Popular History, IV. 123-144 ; Bradford, Cojistitntional History, 
125-201. 

Special Histories. — Standard lives of Washington, especially 
Sparks, Marshall, and Irving; C. F. Adams, Life of John Adams; 
Henry Adams, Albert Gallatin; H. C. Lodge, Washington, II. 
129-269 ; J. T. Morse, Jefferson, 146-208, and John Adams, 241- 
310 ; G. Pellew, Johjt Jay, 262-339 ; S. H. Gay, Madison, 193-251 ; 
George Gibbs, Administratio7is of Washington and Adams, I., II.; 
W. H. Trescott, Diplomatic History; T. Lyman, Diplomacy ; J. C. 
Hamilton, Republic, V., VI. 

Contemporary Accounts. — Thomas Jefferson, Anas ( Works, 
IX. 185-203); William Sullivan, Familiar Letters on Public Charac- 
ters, 48-187 (written in reply to Jefferson) ; Works of Washington, 
Jefferson, Fisher Ames, John Jay, Rufus King, Arthur St. Clair, John 
Adams, Madison, and Gallatin ; Abigail Adams, Letters ; W. Winter- 
botham, Historical View (1795) ; T. Cooper, Some Information 
respecting America (1793, ^794) * Rochefoucault-Liancourt, Voyage 
dans les Etats-Uttis (1795-1797) (also in translation); J. Weld, 
Travels through the States (i 795-1 797) I newspapers, especially 
General Advertiser and Aurora, Boston Gazette. — Reprints in Alex- 
ander Johnston, American Orations , I. ; American History told by 
Contemporaries, III. 



1 792- 1 794 •] Polit ical Parties. 1 5 5 

82. Formation of political Parties (1792-1794). 

During the four uneventful years from 1789 to 1793 
two political parties had been slowly developed. Some 
Origin of wrfters have imagined that these two parties 
parties. were a survival of the Revolutionary Whigs 

and Tories; some have traced them back to the debate 
on the assumption of State debts. John Adams, years 
later, went to the heart of the matter when he said: 
" You say our divisions began with Federalism and anti- 
Federalism. Alas ! they began with human nature." The 
foundation for the first two great national parties was a 
difference of opinion as to the nature and proper func- 
tions of the new government. 

During the second Congress, from 1791 to 1793, arose an 
opposition to Hamilton which gradually consolidated into 
a party. It came chiefly from the Southern and Middle 
States, and represented districts in which there was little 
capital or trade. Arrayed among his supporters were 
most of the representatives from New England, and many 
from the Middle States and South Carolina : they repre- 
sented the commercial interests of the country; they 
desired to see the debt funded and the State debts as- 
sumed ; they began to act together as another party. 

The final form taken by these two parties depended 
much upon the character of their leaders. Hamilton, a 
Hamilton and ""^an of great personal force and of strong 
jefiFerson. aristocratic feehng, represented the principle 
of authority, of government framed and administered by 
a select few for the benefit of their fellows. Jefferson, an 
advocate of popular government extended to a point 
never before reached, declared that his party was made 
up of those " who Identified themselves with the people, 
have confidence in them, cherish and consider them as 
the most honest and safe, although not the most wise. 



156 Federal Supremacy, l§§82, 83. 

depositary of the public interest." Between two such men 
controversies were certain to arise In May, 1792, Jeffer- 
son wrote that Hamilton had introduced speculation and 
a dangerous construction of the constitution ; and Ham- 
ilton wrote that Jefferson was at the head of a hostile 
faction dangerous to the Union. Washington attempted 
to make himself an arbiter of this quarrel, but was unable 
to reconcile the two men. They both urged him to ac- 
cept a second term for the presidency, and he was again 
unanimously elected in 1792. The quarrel between the 
two great chiefs had by this time got abroad. Hamilton 
was said to be a monarchist. His administration of the 
Treasury was attacked, and an investigation was held early 
in 1793 ; but no one was able to find any irregularity. 

By this time the followers of Jefferson had begun to 
take upon themselves the name of Republicans. They 
Party held that the government ought to raise and 

names spend as little money as possible ; beyond that 

they rested upon the principles first definitely stated in 
Jefferson's opinion on the bank (§ 96) : that Congress 
was confined in its powers to the letter of the Constitu- 
tion; and that the States were the depositary of most of 
the powers of government. The other party took upon 
itself the name of Federal, or Federalist, which had 
proved so valuable in the struggle over the Constitu- 
tion. Among its most eminent members were Hamilton, 
John Jay, Vice-President John Adams, and President 
Washington 

Both parties now began to set in motion new political 
machinery. The " Gazette of the United States " became 
Newspaper t^e recognized mouthpiece of the Federalists, 
organs, ^ud the " National Gazette," edited by Philip 

Freneau, translating clerk in Jefferson's department, 
began to attack Hamilton and other leading Federalists, 
and even the President. At a cabinet meeting Washing- 



£792, 1793-] IVar. — France and England. 157 

ton complained that "that rascal Freneau sent him three 
copies of his paper every day, as though he thought he 
would become a distributer of them. He could see in 
this nothing but an impudent design to insult him." 

83, "War between France and England (1793). 

So far the parties had been little more than personal foh 
lowings ; the mighty movements in Europe were now to 
French - Crystallize them. Early in 1 789 a revolution had 
Revolution, come about in France; in 1791 a constitution 
was put in force under which the king became a limited 
monarch ; in 1 792 war broke out between France and 
a Prussian-Austrian alliance- Disasters on the frontier 
were followed by the overthrow of the monarchy, and in 
January, 1793, Louis the Sixteenth was executed. The 
anarchical movement, once begun, hurried on until the 
government of France fell into the hands of men con- 
trolled by the populace of Paris. On Feb. 3, 
1793? the French Republic declared war 
against England : the issue was instantly accepted. As 
the two powers were unable conveniently to reach each 
other on land, great efforts were made on both sides to fit 
out fleets. The colonies of each power were exposed to 
attack, and colonial trade was in danger. 

From the first the sympathy of the United States had 
naturally been with France. The republic seemed due 
Interest of ^0 American example; Jefferson was our mm- 
America. jgter at Paris in 1789, and saw his favorite 
principles of human liberty extending to Europe. The 
excesses of the Revolution, however, startled the Fed- 
eralists, who saw in them a sufficient proof that Jefferson's 
"people" could not be trusted. The war brought up 
the question of the treaty of 1778 with France, by which 
the Americans bound themselves to guarantee the colo 
nial possessions of France in case of defensive war. 



158 Federal Supremacy. [§§83,84. 

For the United States to enter the war as ally of either 
side meant to lose most of the advantages gained by 
Danger to the ncw Constitution : the Indians on the fron- 
America. ^jgr had opposed and defeated a large body 
of United States troops ; the revenue of the country de- 
rived from imports would cease as soon as war was 
declared ; American ships would be exposed to capture 
on every sea. Trade with the West Indies, which pro- 
ceeded irregularly and illegally, was now likely to be 
broken up altogether. The question was no longer one 
of international law, but of American politics : the Demo- 
crats were inclined to aid France, by war or by indirect 
aid, — such as we had received from France at the begin- 
ning of the Revolutionary War; the Federalists leaned 
toward England, because they wished Enghsh trade, and 
because they feared the spread of anarchical principles 
in America. 

84. American Neutrality (1793). 

On April 5, 1793, the news of the outbreak of war 
was received at Philadelphia. Washington at once 
Neutrality summoned his cabinet for the most important 
proclamation discussion vvhich it had yet held. Was the 
United States to consider itself bound to enter the war 
and to defend ttie French West Indies against Great 
Britain.'* Should the President declare that the United 
States stood neutral in this contest? The question was 
new. For the first time in history there was an indepen- 
dent American power, — a nation so far removed by dis- 
tance and by interest from European conflicts that it 
might reasonably ask that it should not be drawn into 
the struggle. Hamilton was inclined to hold the treaties 
abrogated by the change of government in France ; Jef- 
ferson insisted that they were binding ; both agreed that 
the President ought to issue a proclamation announcing 



-793- J America7i Neutrality. 159 

that the United States would take no part on either side. 
The neutrality proclamation, issued April 22, was there- 
fore an announcement to the world that the United States 
stood outside the European system, and might continue 
friendly relations with both belligerent powers. 

This attitude was anything but what France had ex- 
pected. On April 8 a French minister, Genet, landed in 
Genet's Charleston, armed with a quantity of blank 

mission. commissions for privateers. He was a man 

twenty-eight years old, whose diplomatic experience had 
culminated in the disruption of one of the weaker neigh- 
bors of France, He had no doubt that the sympathy of 
the American people was with his country. He proposed, 
therefore, to act as though he stood upon his own soil : 
men were enlisted ; privateers were commissioned ; prizes 
were taken in American waters and brought into Ameri- 
can ports for condemnation. Genet advanced northward 
in a kind of triumphal procession. Throughout the 
South and West, Democratic clubs were organized, mod- 
elled on the French Jacobin and other revolutionary 
clubs. 

He reached Philadelphia, to be confronted by the Neu- 
trality Proclamation and by the firmness of the Presi- 
Genet and dent. His privateers were checked. He does 
Washington. j^Qt appear to have demanded of the United 
States a fulfilment of the treaty of 1778, but he did ask 
for advance payment of money due to France, and for 
other favors. To his chagrin. Congress was not to 
meet until December, and he insisted in vain that there 
should be an extra session. In July Genet proceeded to 
fit out a captured British vessel, the " Little Sarah," as 
a privateer ; and, contrary to the remonstrances of the 
government and his own implied promise, she was sent 
to sea. Encouraged by this success, he determined to 
make a public appeal to the people to override the Presi- 



1 6o Federal Supremacy. [§§ 84. 85. 

dent. His purpose was made known, and his career was 
at an end. When the United States asked for his recall, it 
was cheerfully accorded by the French government. In 
three months Genet had contrived to offend the principal 
officers of government and to insult the nation. The 
current of feeling was thus set toward England. 

85. The Jay Treaty (1794-1796). 

Once more the English government neglected the fav- 
orable moment for securing the friendship of the United 
American States. The grievances so much resented un- 
grievances. ^igj. ^\y^ Confederation (§ 56) were continued : 
the Western posts were still occupied by the British; 
American vessels still paid unreasonable duties in British 
ports; the West India trade was still withheld. The war 
at once led to new aggressions. France and England 
throughout sought to limit American commerce by cap- 
Neutral turing vessels for violations of four disputed 
rights. principles of international law. The first was 
that provisions are " contraband of war," and hence 
that American vessels carrying breadstuffs, the principal 
export of the United States, were engaged in an unlawful 
trade : the United States insisted that only military stores 
were *' contraband of war." The second limiting prin- 
ciple was that, after notice of the blockade of a port, ves- 
sels bound to it might be taken anywhere on the high 
seas : the United States held that the notice had no valid- 
ity unless there was an actual blockading force outside 
the port. The third principle was the so-called " Rule of 
1756," that where a European country forbade trade with 
its colonies in time of peace it should not open it to 
neutrals in time of war : the United States denied the 
right of Great Britain to interfere in their trade with the 
French and Spanish colonies. The fourth principle was 



i793> ^794-] British Aggressions. i6l 

that a ship might be captured if it had upon it goods 
which were the property of an enemy. The United 
States asserted that "Free ships make free goods," -- 
that a neutral vessel was not subject to capture, no 
matter whose property she carried. 

On May 9, 1793, the French ordered the" capture of ves- 
sels loaded with provisions, although expressly excepted 
• . by the treaty of 1778. On June 8 the British 

Agressions J ■' ' ' •' 

on theUni- issued a Similar order ;( and in November the 
^■^^' rule of 1756 was again put in force by the Brit- 
ish government. Captures at once began by both powers ; 
but the British cruisers were more numerous, did more 
damage, and thus inclined public sentiment in the United 
States against England. The pacific Jefferson now came 
forward as the defender of American interests; Sept. 16, 
1793, he sent to Congress a report in which he set forth the 
aggressions upon American commerce, and recommended 
Impress- ^ poHcy of retaliation. Meantime a new griev- 
ment. ^^^^ j^^^ arisen, which was destined to be a 

cause of the War of 181 2. In time of war the command- 
ers of British naval vessels were authorized to "impress " 
British seamen, even out of British merchant vessels. 
The search of American merchantmen on the same 
errand at once began, and was felt by the United States 
government to be humiliating to the national dignity. 
The whole country was outraged by the frequent seizure 
Danger o^ native Americans, on the pretext that they 

of war. were English born. Public feeling rose until 

on March 26, 1794, a temporary embargo was laid, for- 
bidding vessels to depart from American ports. On 
April 1 7, a motion was introduced to cut off commercial 
intercourse with Great Britain. On April 19, therefore, 
the President appointed John Jay, Chief Justice of the 
United States, as a special envoy to make a last effort to 
adjust matters in England. Nevertheless, the non-inter 
II 



1 62 Federal SiLpremacy. [§§85,86. 

course bill passed the House, and was defeated only by 
Adams's casting vote in the Senate. 

Fortunately it was a time when communication with 
Europe was slow. Not until June did Jay reach England. 

A treaty was negotiated on November 19, but 
Jays treaty. ^^^ ^^^ received by Washington until after 
the adjournment of Congress in March, 1795. The treaty 
had indeed removed some old grievances : the posts were 
to be evacuated ; commissions were to settle the northeast 
boundary, and to adjust the claims for the British debts; 
but Jay got no indemnity for the negroes carried away by 
the British in 1783. The commercial clauses were far 
less favorable : the discriminating taxes against Ameri- 
can shipping were at last withdrawn ; but Jay was unable 
to secure any suitable guarantee for neutral trade, and 
could obtain no promise to refrain from searching Ameri- 
can merchantmen, or seizing English-born sailors found 
thereon. Above all, the West India trade, which the 
United States so much desired, was granted only with 
the proviso that it should be carried on in vessels of less 
than seventy tons burden. In return for these meagre 
concessions, granted only for twelve years, the United 
States agreed not to export to any part of the world " mo- 
lasses, sugar, coffee, cocoa, or cotton." 

A special session of the Senate was summoned in June, 
1795, and with great difficulty the necessary two-thirds 

majority was obtained. The twelfth article, 

Excitement .. , ,__ •, •,. ,, 

in the Unit- contammg the West India and the export 
ed States. clauses, was particularly objectionable, and 
the Senate struck it out. During the remainder of the 
year there was the fiercest popular opposition ; the com- 
mercial and ship-building interest felt that it had been 
betrayed ; Jay was burned in effigy ; Hamilton was stoned 
at a public meeting; State legislatures declared the treaty 
unconstitutional. Washington was attacked so fiercely 



1794-1796-1 7<^y Tj'eaty. 163 

that he said the language used "could scarcely be 
appHed to a Nero, to a notorious defaulter, or even to a 
common pickpocket." When Congress met in 1795 an 
effort was made to prevent the necessary appropriations 
for carrying out the treaty. It was only the great personal 
popularity of Washington that saved the country from a 
repudiation of the treaty and a war with England. Once 
in force, the treaty was found moderately favorable. Our 
commerce increased, and captures were much diminished. 



86. The Whiskey Kebellion (1794). 

During this year of excitement a serious outbreak had 
occurred in Pennsylvania. Ever since the first Excise 
The excise Act in 1791 (§ 76), there had been determined 
unpopular opposition to the collection of the whiskey 
tax. The people of southwestern Pennsylvania were three 
hundred miles from tide-water; and whiskey was the 
only commodity of considerable value, in small bulk, with 
which they could purchase goods. The tax, therefore, 
affected the whole community. In 1792 the policy pur- 
sued at the beginning of the Revolution was brought into 
action: mobs and pubhc meetings began to intimidate 
the tax-collectors. In 1794 the difficulties 
broke out afresh, and on July 17 the house 
of Inspector- General Neville was attacked by a band of 
armed men; one man was killed, and the house was 
burned. Great popular mass meetings followed, and a 
few days later the United States mail was robbed. 

As this violence was directed against the revenue laws, 
Hamilton made it his special task to suppress it. On 
September 25 the President called out the 
uppression. j^^Jj^j^ irom Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Mary- 
land, and Virginia. Hamilton himself accompanied the 
troops, fifteen thousand in number; they marched over 



1 64 Federal Supremacy. [§§ 86, Z-]. 

the mountains, and reached the disaffected country at 
the end of October. The insurgents made no stand in the 
field, and the troops returned, after making a few arrests. 

The matter now went to the courts. Six persons were 
indicted for treason, of whom two, Vigol and Mitchell, 
were convicted. They were rough and ignorant men, 
who had been led into the outbreak without understand- 
ing their own responsibility, and Washington pardoned 
them both. In July, 1795, a general amnesty was pro- 
claimed. 

The effect of the whole movement was to make it evi- 
dent throughout the nation that the United States had 

at its disposal a military force sufficient to 
Effect. ^ J J- • .• T 1 • 

put down any ordmary insurrection. In his 

message on the subject on Nov. 19, 1794, Washington 
alluded to " combinations of men who have disseminated 
suspicions, jealousies, and accusations of the whole gov- 
ernment." The Senate applied these words to "self- 
created societies." The allusion was to the Democratic 
clubs, founded in 1793 when Genet came to the country 
(§ 84), and still in existence. The effect of Washington's 
criticism was to break down the societies and to check a 
movement which looked toward resistance to all consti- 
tuted government. The opposition were compelled to 
take a less objectionable party name, and began to call 
themselves Republicans. 

87. Election of John Adams (1796). 

On Sept. 17, 1796, Washington, in a public address, 
announced that he should not accept a re-election. The 
Washington presidency had been irksome to Washington, 
retires. ^i^^ the personal attacks upon himself had 

grieved him; but he retired with the admiration and re- 
spect of the whole country. The selection of a successor 



f 794- 1 797-] Whiske)f Rebellion. Election. 165 

at once became a party cjuestion. Jefferson, who had re> 
signed the office of Secretary of State at the end of 1793, 
Nomina- was the natural leader of the Repubhcans. John 
tions. Adams, then Vice-President, had the largest 

Federalist following; but Hamilton hoped, by an elec- 
toral trick, to bring T. Pinckney, the candidate for Vice- 
President, in over his head. Adams candidly expressed 
his opinion of this intrigue : " That must be a sordid 
people indeed, a people destitute of a sense of honor, 
equity, and character, that could submit to be governed 
and see hundreds of its most meritorious public men gov- 
erned by a Pinckney under an elective government." 

The danger was not, however, from Pinckney, but 
from Jefferson, When the votes were counted it was 
Adams and found that Adams had received the vote of 
Jefferson. tj-j^ Northern States, with Delaware and a part 
of Maryland; but that Jefferson had received almost the 
whole vote of the South and of Pennsylvania. Adams 
became President by a vote of seventy-one, and Jefferson 
Vice-President by a vote of sixty-eight. The two men 
had been associated in early years, and were not un- 
friendly to each other. There was even a hint that 
Jefferson was to be taken into the cabinet. As soon as the 
administration began, all confidence between them was at 
an end. The same set of elections decided the member- 
ship of Congress to serve from 1797 to 1799; the Senate 
remained decidedly Federalist ; in the House the balance 
of power was held by a few moderate Republicans. 

Adams considered himself the successor to the pol- 
icy of Washington, and committed the serious mis- 
Adams's take of taking over his predecessor's cabinet, 
cabinet. Hamilton retired in 1795; he had been re- 

placed by his friend and admirer, Oliver Wolcott ; the 
Secretary of State was Timothy Pickering of Pennsyl- 
vania : both these men looked upon Hamilton as their 



1 66 Federal Supremacy . [§§87,88. 

party chief. The administration began, therefore, with 
divided counsels, and with jealousy in the President's 
official household. 

88. Breach with France (1795-1798). 

While the war-cloud with England was gathering and 
disappearing, new complications had arisen with France. 
The Jay treaty was received by that power as an insult, 
partly because it was favorable to her rival, partly be- 
cause it removed the danger of war between England and 
the United States. In 1795 the first period of the Rev- 
olution was over, and an efficient government was con- 
Monroe's stituted, with an executive directory of five, 
miss'ion. James Monroe, appointed minister to France, 

had begun his mission in September, 1794, just after the 
fall of Robespierre; he appeared in the National Con- 
vention, and the president of that body adjured him to 
"let this spectacle complete the annihilation of an im- 
pious coalition of tyrants." During Jay's negotiations he 
continued to assure the French of the friendship of 
America, although the Directory speedily declared that 
Jay's treaty had released France from the treaty of 1778. 
As Monroe made no effort to push the American claims 
for captured vessels, he was recalled in disgrace in 1796, 
and C. C. Pinckney was appointed as his successor. 

Three weeks after his inauguration Adams received a 
Pinckney despatch from Pinckney announcing that he 
rebuffed. had been treated as a suspected foreigner, and 
that official notice had been given that the Directory 
would not receive another minister from the United 
States until the French grievances had been redressed. 
A special session of Congress was at once summoned, 
and the President declared that " the action of France 
ought to be repelled with a decision which shall convince 
France and the world that we are not a degraded people, 



1795-1798] Breach ivith Fi-ance. 167 

humiliated under a colonial spirit of fear and sense of in- 
feriority." Headstrong behavior on the President's part 
would have immediately brought on war ; but he had 
already made up his mind to send a special mission to 
France. In June, 1797, John Marshall and Elbridge 
Gerry, a Republican, but a personal friend of the Pres- 
ident, were sent out to join Pinckney in a final 
representation. 

It was nearly a year before news of the result was re- 
ceived. On April 2, 1798, the President communicated 
X. Y z. the despatches revealing the so-called " X. Y. 
affair. ^ affair." It appeared that the envoys on 

reaching Paris, in October, 1797, had been denied an 
official interview, but that three persons, whose names 
were clouded under the initials X. Y. Z., had approached 
them with vague suggestions of loans and advances ; 
these were finally crystallized into a demand for fifty 
thousand pounds " for the pockets of the Directory." 
The despatch described one conversation. " ' Gentlemen,' 
said X., 'you do not speak to the point. It is money. 
It is expected that you will offer money.' We said that 
we had spoken to that point very explicitly, that we had 
given an answer. ' No,' he replied, ' you have not. What 
is your answer?' We replied, 'It is No, no, no; not a 
sixpence.' " The President concluded with a ringing 
paragraph which summed up the indignation of the Amer- 
ican people at this insult. " I will never send another 
minister to France without assurances that he will be re- 
ceived, respected, and honored as the representative of a 
great, free, powerful, and independent nation." 

The Republican opposition in Congress was over- 
whelmed and almost silenced. A succession of statutes 
Naval war '^^ April, May, and June hurried on military 
with France. ^^^ naval preparations, and on July 7, 1798, 
American vessels of war were authorized to attack 



1 68 Fedei^al Supremacy. [§§88,89. 

French cruisers. On Feb, 9, 1799, the ''Constellation" 
took the French frigate " Insurgente," and Arnerican 
cruisers and privateers had the satisfaction of retalia- 
ting for the numerous captures of American vessels by 
preying on French commerce. Measures were taken to 
raise land forces; but here again the rift in the Federal 
party appeared. Washington v^as made titular com- 
mander-in-chief. It was expected that operations would 
be directed by the second in command, and Hamilton's 
friends insisted that he should receive that appointment. 
With great reluctance Adams granted the commission, 
the result of which was the resignation of Knox, who had 
been third on the list. 



89. Alien and Sedition Acts (1798). 

For the first and last time in his administration John 
Adams found himself popular. From all parts of the 
Triumph of country addresses were sent to the President 
the Federalists, approving his patriotic stand. The moderate 
Republicans in the House were swept away by the cur- 
rent, and thus there was built up a compact Federalist 
majority in both houses. It proceeded deliberately to 
destroy its own party. The newspapers had now reached 
an extraordinary degree of violence ; attacks upon the 
Federalists, and particularly upon Adams, were numerous/ 
and keenly felt. Many of the journalists were foreigners, 
Englishmen and Frenchmen. To the excited imagina- 
tion of the Federalists, these men seemed leagued with 
France in an attempt to destroy the liberties of the 
country; to get rid of the most violent of these writ- 
ers, and at the same time to punish American-born 
editors who too freely criticised the administration, 
seemed to them essential. This purpose they proposed 
to carry out by a series of measures known as the. 



rjgS.] Alien aiid Sedition Acts. 169 

Alien and Sedition Acts. A naturalization law, requir- 
ing fourteen years residence, was hurried through. On 
April 25 a Federalist introduced a temporary 

Alien Act r j r j 

Alien Act, for the removal of " such aliens 
born, not entitled by the constitution and laws to the 
rights of citizenship, as may be dangerous to its peace 
and safety." The opposition, headed by Albert Galla- 
tin, made a strong appeal against legislation so unnec- 
essary, sweeping, and severe. The Federalists replied 
in panic fear: "Without such an act," said one mem- 
ber, "an army might be imported, and could be excluded 
only after a trial." To the details of the bill there was 
even greater objection. It conferred upon the President 
the power to order the withdrawal of any alien; if he 
refused to go, he might be imprisoned at the President's 
discretion. Nevertheless, the act, limited to two years, 
was passed on June 25, 1798. Adams seems to have had 
little interest in it, and never made use of the powers 
thus conferred. 

The Sedition Act was resisted with even greater stub- 
bornness. It proposed to punish persons who should 
conspire to oppose measures of the govern- 
ment, or to intimidate any office-holder. The 
publishing of libels upon the government, or either 
house, or the President, was likewise made a crime. 
Against this proposition there were abundant arguments, 
on grounds both of constitutionality and expediency. It 
introduced the new principle of law that the United 
States should undertake the regulation of the press, 
which up to this time had been left solely to the States. 
That its main purpose was to silence the Republican jour- 
nalists is plain from the argument of a leading Federalist : 
the " Aurora," a Republican organ, had said that " there 
is more safety and liberty to be found in Constantinople 
than in Philadelphia; " and the " Timepiece " had said of 



I JO Federal Supremacy. \%% 89, 90 

Adams that "to tears and execrations he added derision 
and contempt." It is impossible to agree with the mem- 
ber who quoted these extracts that "they are indeed ter- 
rible. They are calculated to freeze the blood in the 
veins." The Sedition Act was to expire in 1801. It 
Sedition '^'^^ quickly put into operation, and one of the 
prosecutions, prosecutions was against Callender, known to 
be a friend of Jefferson ; he was indicted and convicted 
for asserting among other things that "Mr. Adams has 
only completed the scene of ignominy which Mr. Wash- 
ington began." So far from silencing the ribald journal- 
ists, the Act and its execution simply drew down worse 
criticism. On the other hand, the Federalist press, which 
had been hardly inferior in violence, was permitted to 
thunder unchecked. The Alien and Sedition Acts were 
party measures, passed for party purposes ; they did not 
accomplish the purposes intended, and they did the party 
irreparable harm. 

90. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions (1798-1800). 

The elections of 1798 in the excited state of public 
feeling assured a FederaHst majority in the Congress to 
Danger of sit from i799to 1801. The Republicans felt 
disunion. ^[jg^^ their adversaries were using the power of 
the federal government to destroy the rights of the 
people. June i, 1798, Jefferson wrote to a friend who 
thought that the time was come to withdraw from the 
Union : " If on the temporary superiority of one party the 
other is to resort to a scission of the Union, no federal 
government can exist." The remedy which 
and jeff^r- ^'^Y '^ ^^^ mind was an appeal to the people 
son's reso- through the State legislatures. In November 

lutions. ^ * . , , . 

and December, 1798, two series of resolutions 
were introduced, — one in the Virginia legislature, the 
other in the Kentucky legislature ; the first drawn by 



1798-1800.] Virginia and Kentucky. 171 

Madison, and the second by Jefferson's own hand. They 
set forth that the Constitution was a compact to which 
the States were parties, and that "each party has an 
equal right to judge for itself as well of infractions as of 
the mode and measure of redress." The Alien and Se- 
dition Acts and some other statutes were declared by 
Kentucky "not law . . . void and of no effect ; " and the 
other States were called upon to unite in so declaring them 
void, and in protesting to Congress. For the first time 
since the Constitution had been formed, a clear statement 
of the " compact " theory of government was now put 
forth. It was a reasonable implication from these resolu- 
tions that if the Federalist majority continued to override 
the Constitution, the States must take more decisive 
action; but the only distinct suggestion of an attack on 
the Union is found in a second series of Kentucky reso- 
lutions, passed in 1799, in which it is declared that 
" nullification ... of all unauthorized acts ... is the 
rightful remedy.*' 

The constitutional doctrine in these resolutions was 
secondary. The real purpose was to arouse the public 
„ to the dangerous character of the Federalist 

Purpose ® 

ofthereso- legislation. Madison, many years afterward, 
lutions. explained that he meant only an appeal to the 

other States to unite in deprecation of the measures. 
The immediate effect was to set up a sort of political 
platform, about which the opponents of the Federalists 
might rally, and by the presentation of a definite issue to 
keep up the Republican organization against the electoral 
year 1800. 

91. Election of 1800-1801. 

The Alien and Sedition Acts had quickly destroyed 
all Adams's popularity in the Republican party ; his later 
action deprived him of the united support of the Feder- 



1/2 Federal Supremacy. [§§91,92 

alists. War with France was pleasing to them as an 
assertion of national dignity, as a protest against the 
Peace with growth of dangerous democracy in France, and 
France. ^s a step toward friendship or eventual alli- 

ance with England. Early in 1799 Talleyrand intimated 
that a minister would now be received from the American 
government. Without consulting his cabinet, with whom 
Adams was not on good terms, the President appointed an 
embassy to France. Early in 1800 they made a favora- 
ble treaty with France : better guarantees were secured 
for American neutral trade ; the old treaties of 1778 were 
practically set aside ; and the claims of American mer- 
chants for captures since 1793 were abandoned. This 
last action gave rise to the French Spoliation Claims, 
which remained unsettled for nearly a century thereafter. 
Adams's determination to make peace was statesman- 
like and patriotic, but it gave bitter offence to the warlike 
Breach in Federalists. In May, 1800, Adams found his 
the party. cabinet so out of sympathy that he removed 
Pickering, Secretary of State, and appointed John Mar- 
shall. This meant a formal breach between the Adams 
and the Hamilton wings of the party. 

The campaign of 1800 thus began with the Federalists 
divided, and the Republicans hopeful. Hamilton was 
determined to force Adams from the headship, and pre- 
pared a pamphlet, for which materials were furnished 
by Oliver Wolcott, Secretary of the Treasury. Aaron 
Burr, a wily Repubhcan leader, managed to get a copy, 
published it, and spread it broadcast. Adams was re- 
Repubiicans nominated by a caucus of Federalist members, 
successful. and C. C. Pinckney was put on the ticket with 
him. Jefferson was, as in 1796, the candidate of his 
party for President. For Vice-President there was asso- 
ciated with him Burr, who was able to control the impor- 
tant vote of the State of New York. The result of this 



i8oo-i8oi.] Election of 1800-1801. 173 

coalition was seen in May, 1800, when a New York legis- 
lature was elected with a Republican majority; and that 
legislature would, in the autumn, cast the vote of the State. 
The Federalists persevered, but South Carolina deserted 
them, so that both Jefferson and Burr received seventy- 
three votes, and Adams had only sixty-five. The Federal- 
ist supremacy was broken. 

Now arose an unexpected complication. There being 
a tie between Jefferson and Burr, the House of Represen- 
Eiection by tatives was Called upon to decide between 
the House, them, its vote being cast by States. Had 
the majority of the House been Republican, Jefferson 
would, of course, have received their votes ; it was, 
however. Federalist, and the Federahsts thought them- 
selves entitled to choose that one of their enemies who 
was least likely to do them harm. Obscure intrigues 
were entered upon both with Jefferson and Burr. Neither 
would make definite promises, although Burr held out 
hopes of alliance with the Federalists. Hamilton now 
came forward with a letter in which he declared that of 
the two men Jefferson was less dangerous. " To my 
mind," said he, " a true estimate of Mr. Jefferson's 
character warrants the expectation of a temporizing 
rather than of a violent system." After a long struggle 
the deadlock was broken ; Jefferson was chosen Presi- 
dent of the United States, and Burr Vice-President. 



92. Causes of the Fall of the Federalists. 

The electoral majority was small ; the Federalists' 
preserved their organization, and had the prestige of 
Un o ular- ^^^^ve years of administration ; it was impos- 
ity ot the sible to realize that there never again would 

era IS s. ^^^ ^ Federalist President. In the election of 
1804, however, they received but fourteen electoral votes 



174 Federal Supremacy. [§93 

altogether (§100). The reasons for this downfall are many. 
However popular the French war had been, the taxes 
made necessary by it had provoked great dissatisfaction ; 
and in 1799 a little insurrection, the so-called Fries 
Rebellion, had broken out in Pennsylvania. The Sedi- 
tion prosecutions were exceedingly unpopular. The last 
acts of the party left a violent resentment. In 1801, after 
it was known that there would be a Republican President 
with a large majority in both houses of Congress, the 
Federalists resolved to bolster up their power in the third 
department of government. A Judiciary Act was there- 
Judiciary fo^^ passed, creating new courts, new judges, 
Act. and new salaried officials. All the resulting 

appointments were made by Adams, and duly confirmed 
by the Senate, thus anticipating by many years any real 
needs of the country. A vacancy occurring. in the chief- 
justiceship, Adams appointed John Marshall, one of the 
few Virginia Federalists ; he had made his reputation as 
a politician and statesman : even Adams himself scarcely 
foresaw that he was to be the greatest of American 
jurists. 

Still more fatal were the internal dissensions in the 
party. In 1799 Washington died, and no man in the 
Internal dis- country posscsscd his moderating influence, 
sensions. 'pj^g cabinet, by adhering to Hamilton and 
corresponding with him upon important public matters, 
had weakened the dignity of the President and of the 
party. In the election of 1800 Hamilton, besides his 
open attack on Adams, had again tried to reduce his vote 
sufficiently to bring Pinckney in over his head. Adams 
himself, although a man of strong national spirit, was 
in some respects too moderate for his party. Yet his own 
vanity and vehemence made him unfit to be a party 
leader. 

While these reasons may account for the defeat of 



1 799- 1 So I.] Fall of tJie Federalists. 175 

the Federalists, they do not explain their failure to rise 
Republican again. They had governed well : they had '' 
theories. biiilt up the Credit of the country; they had' 
taken a dignified and effective stand against the aggres- ' 
sions both of England and of France. Yet their theory 
was of a government by leaders. Jefferson, on the other 
hand, represented the rising spirit of democracy. It was 
not his protest against the over-government of the Feder- 
alists that made him popular, it was his assertion that 
the people at large were the best depositaries of power. 
Jefferson had taken hold of the " great wheel going 
uphill." He had behind him the mighty force of the 
popular will. 



176 Republican SiLpremacy. [§§93,94- 

CHAPTER IX. 
KEPUBLICAN SUPREMACY (1801-1806). 



93. References. 

Bibliographies. — W. E. Foster, References to Presidential 
Administrations, 8-12 ; Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical His- 
tory, VII. 310, 315-320, 336-341, 418-420, 519-522, 527-547 ; H. B. 
Tompkins, Bibliotheca Jeffersoniajia ; Channing and Hart, Guide, 
§§ 167-171. 

Historical Maps. — Nos. i and 4, this volume {Epoch Maps, 
Nos. 7 and 9); Labberton, Atlas Nos. Ixvi., Ixvii. ; MacCoun, His- 
torical Geography ; Scribner, Statistical Atlas, Plates 13, 14, 

General Accounts. — J. B. McMaster, People of the United 
States, II. 538-635 ; III. 1-338 ; J. Schouler, United States, II. 
1-194; Bryant and Gay, Popular History, I. 144-184; H. Von 
Hoist, Co7istitutio7ial History, I. 168-226 ; R. Hildreth, United 
States, V. 419-686 ; VI. 25-148 ; Geo. Tucker, United States, II. 
146-348 ; Bradford, Constitutional History, I. 202-329. 

Special Histories. — Henry Adams, United States, I.-IV,, 
John Randolph, 48-267, and Life of Gallatin ; J. T. Morse, Jeffer- 
son, 209-300 ; George Tucker, Life of Jefferson ; H. S. Randall, 
Life of Jefferson ; J. A. Stevens, Gallatin, 176-311 ; S. H. Gay, 
Madison, 252-282; lives of Burr, Gerry, Plumer, Pickering; T. 
Lyman, Diplomacy ; J. C. Hamilton, Republic, VII. 

Contemporary Accounts. — Works of Jefferson, Madison, and 
Gallatin; J. Q. Adams, Memoirs, I. 248-551; William Sullivan, 
Familiar Letters, 187-289; Timothy Dwight, Character of Thomas 
Jefferson ; S. G. Goodrich, Recollections, I. 106-137,265-298 ; Basil 
Hall, Voyages and Travels ; Timothy Dwight, Travels (lygG-iSi;^); 
Thomas Ashe, Travels (1S06) ; John Mellish, Travels (1806-18 J i) ; 
John Davis. Travels (i7g8-i8o2) ; Isaac Weld, Travels; J.Stephens, 
War iji Disguise. — Reprints in Mathew Carey, The Olive Branch ; 
Henry Adams, Doctimenis Relating to New England Federalistn ; 
Americajt History told by Contemporaries, III. 

94. The Political Revolution of 1801, 

To the mind of the Federalists the success of the Re- 
publicans, and particularly the elevation of Jefferson, 



iSoi.] Jeffei'son's Character. lyj 

meant a complete change in the government which they 
had been laboring to establish. Jefferson was to them 
Character of the type of (langerous liberality in thought, in 
Jefferson. religion, and in government. In his tastes 
and his habits, his reading and investigation, Jefferson 
was half a century in advance of his contemporaries. 
Books and letters from learned men constantly came to 
him from Europe ; he experimented in agriculture and 
science. Accused during his lifetime of being an athe- 
ist, he felt the attraction of religion, and, in fact, was 
not far removed from the beliefs held by the Unitarian 
branch of the Congregational Church in New England. 
Brought up in an atmosphere of aristocracy, in the midst 
of slaves and inferior white men, his political platform 
was confidence in human nature, and objection to privi- 
lege in every form. Although a poor speaker, and rather 
shunning than seeking society, he had such influence 
over those about him that no President has ever so domi- 
nated the two Houses of Congress. 

Jefferson's great defect was a mistaken view of human 
nature ; this showed itself in an unfortunate judgment 
Jefferson's 0^ men, which led him to include among his 
faults. friends worthless adventurers like Callender. 

As a student and a philosopher, he believed that mankind 
is moved by simple motives, in which self-interest is pre- 
dominant: hence his disinclination to use force against 
insurrections; the people, if left to themselves, would, 
he believed, return to reason. Hence, also, his confidence 
in a policy of commercial restriction against foreign 
countries which ignored our neutral rights ; this was set 
forth in his commercial report of 1793 (§ 85), and later 
was the foundation of his disastrous embargo policy 
(§ 103). He had entire confidence in his own judgment 
and statesmanship ; his policy was his own, and was little 
affected by his advisers ; and he ventured to measure 
12 



( 



178 Republican S?ipremacy. [§§ 94.95- 

himself in diplomacy against the two greatest men of 
his time, — William Pitt the younger and Napoleon 
Bonaparte. 

Fortunately his administration began at a period when 
general peace seemed approaching. The treaty of Amiens 
Moderate i^ ^^^^ "^^^^^ ^ ^^^^ °^ armistice between 
policy. France and Great Britain, and neutral com- 

merce was relieved from capture. The national income 
was steadily rising (§ 52), the Indians were quiet, the land 
dispute with Georgia — the last of the long series — was 
on the point of being settled, the States showed no sign 
of insubordination. In his inaugural address the new 
President took pains to reassure his fellow-citizens. " We 
have called by different names brethren of the same prin- 
ciple," said he; "we are all Republicans, we are all 
Federalists." Among the essential principles of govern- 
ment which he enumerated, appeared " absolute acqui- 
escence in the decisions of the majority, — the vital prin- 
ciple of republics, — from which is no appeal but to force, 
the vital principle and inrmediate parent of despotism." 

The studied moderation of this address shows clearly 

the policy which Jefferson had in his mind. In a letter 

written about this time he says : " To restore 

Purpose to ■' , , 

win the that harmony which our predecessors so wick- 

Federalists, ^^jy j^^^g j^ ^j^g.j. Q^jg(,|. ^o break, to render 

us again one people, acting as one nation, . . . should 
be the object of every man really a patriot." Jefferson 
was determined to show the Federalists that there would 
be no violent change in his administration; he hoped 
thus to detach a part of their number so as to build up 
the Republican party in the Northern States. Even in 
forming his cabinet he avoided violent shocks ; for some 
months he retained two members of Adams's cabinet ; 
his Secretary of State was Madison, who in 1789 was as 
much inclined to Federahsm as to Republicanism; and 



iSoi] Jefferson's Policy. 179 

he shortly appointed as his Secretary of the Treasury 
Albert Gallatin, the Parliamentary leader of the party, but 
in financial principles and policy much like Hamilton. 



95. Jefferson's Civil Service (1801-1803). 

' In a few weeks the disposition to conciliate was 
severely tried by the pressure of applicants for office. 
Jefferson's principles on this subject were summed up in 
Jefferson's a letter written March 24, 1801 : "I will ex- 
principles, punge the effects of Mr. A.'s indecent conduct 
in crowding nominations after he knew they were not for 
himself. . . . Some removals must be made for miscon- 
duct. ... Of the tliousands of officers, therefore, in the 
United States a very few individuals only, probably not 
twenty, will be removed ; and these only for doing what 
they ought not to have done." Gallatin heartily sup- 
ported him in this policy of moderation. Jefferson then 
laid down the additional principle that he would fill all 
vacancies with Republicans until the number of office- 
holders from each party was about equal. " That 
done, I shall return with joy to that state of things 
when the only questions concerning a candidate shall be, 
Is he honest? Is he capable? Is he faithful to the 
Constitution ? " 

Adams was promptly rebuked by the removal of twenty- 
four persons appointed in the two months previous. 
Political Other removals were made for what would 

removals. ^ow be Called " offensive partisanship." Then 
came a third group of removals, in order, as Jefferson 
said, " to make some room for some participation for the 
Republicans." At the time he acknowledged that there 
had been sixteen cases, — in fact, there were many more; 
at the end of about two years after his inauguration, out 
of 33-1 officers occupying important places, 178 were new 



1 80 Republican Supremacy. [§§ 95, 96. 

appointments, and of their predecessors at least 99 liad 
been removed. These officers in many cases carried witli 
them a staff of subordinates. It is safe to say that one 
half the persons who had been in the civil service of 
the United States in March, 1801, were out of it in 
March, 1805. 

Nor did Jefferson adhere to his purpose to appoint 
Federalists and Republicans indiscriminately after the 
Appoint- balance should have been reached. He ap- 
ments. pointed none but members of his own party ; 

many Federalists in office came over to the Republicans ; 
and by 1809 the civil service was practically filled with 
Repubhcans. 

96. Attack on the Judiciary (1801-1805). 

Moderation in Jefferson's mind did not extend to the 
judiciary which had been forced upon the country by the 
Repeal of the Federalists in i8o I. At his suggestion Breck- 
Judiciary Act. enridge, in 1802, moved to repeal the recent 
Act, and thus to get rid at once of the new courts and of 
the incumbents. The Federalists protested that the Con- 
stitution was being destroyed. " I stand," said Gouverneur 
Morris, " in the presence of Almighty God and of the 
world, and I declare to you that if you lose this charter, 
never, no, never, will you get another. We are now, per 
haps, arrived at the ^parting point." The repeal was 
plainly intended to remove the last bulwark of the Fed- 
eralist party in the government. It was made more ob- 
noxious by a clause suspending the sessions of the 
Supreme Court until February, 1803. It was passed 
by a majority of one in the Senate, and by a party 
vote of fifty-nine to thirty-two in the House. The 
President signed it, and all the new circuit judges and 
judicial officers were thus struck from the roll of the 
government. 



1801-1805.] Attack on the yudiciajy. 181 

The narrow majority in the Senate warned Jefferson 
not to proceed farther with such statutes ; but the judi- 
impeach- ciary could be affected in another way. Sev- 
nients. ^^^X of the Supreme and district judges were 

ardent Federalists, and had expressed strong political 
opinions from the bench. In February, 1803, the House 
impeached John Pickering, district judge in New Hamp- 
shire ; his offence was drunkenness and violence on the 
bench ; but the purpose to intimidate the other judges was 
unmistakable. Two of them accepted the issue. The 
Marbury vs. Supreme Court had resumed its session only a 
Madison. f^^y days, when, in 1803, Marshall made a decis- 
ion in the case of Marbury vs. Madison. Marbury was 
one of Adams's " midnight appointments ; " the suit was 
brought for his commission, which had not been deliv- 
ered, and was retained by Madison when he became 
Secretary of State. Marshall decided that "to withhold 
his commission is an act deemed by the court not war- 
ranted by law, but violative of a legal vested right." 
Upon a technical point, however, the complaint was 
dismissed. 

Further defiance came from another justice of the 
Supreme Court, Samuel Chase of Maryland. His preju- 
dice against Callender on his trial for sedition 
had exasperated the Republicans (§ 89), and 
on May 2, 1803, while the Pickering impeachment was 
impending. Chase harangued the grand jury as follows : 
"The independence of the national judiciary is already 
shaken to its foundation, and the virtue of the people 
alone can restore it. . . . Our republican constitution 
will sink into a mobocracy, . . . the worst of all possible 
governments." Pickering was convicted March 12, 1804, 
and on the same day the House impeached Chase. By 
this time the Republicans had overshot the mark, and 
notwithstanding Chase's gross partisanship, on March i, 



1 82 Republican Supremacy. [§§96,97. 

1805, the impeachment failed for want of a two-thirds 
vote. The only hope of controlling the Supreme Court 
Appoint- was therefore to fill vacancies, as they oc- 
meiits curred, with sound Repubhcans. Three such 

opportunities occurred in Jefferson's administration. To 
his great chagrin, the new judges showed themselves as 
independent, though not as aggressive, as Marshall. 



97. The PoHcy of Retrenchment (1801-1809). 

Although the effort to check the power of the judiciary 
failed, in another direction Jefferson struck out a new 
Federal ^^d popular policy. Under the Federalists 

finance. \]^q. taxes had increased from $3,600,000 in 

1792 to $10,700,000 in 1800. This increase had been 
more than balanced by the growth of expenditures. The 
Indian and French wars had brought unexpected ex- 
penses upon the government, and the construction of a 
little navy was still going on. In 1793 the government 
spent $3,800,000. In 1800 it spent $10,800,000. Of this 
amount $6,000,000 went for the army and navy, and 
$3,000,000 for interest. The deficits had been obscured 
by a funding system under which payments to the sink 
ing fund were practically made out of borrowed money, 
so that the debt had risen from $80,000,000 in 1793 to 
nearly $83,000,000, in 1800. 

If peace could be guaranteed, a considerable part of 
the expenditure could be cut down ; and thus taxes 
Gallatin's might be reduced, and still a surplus be left, 
finance. out of which to pay instalments on the public 

debt. In his first annual message the President accord- 
ingly advised the reduction of the military and naval 
forces, and also of the civil officers. Gallatin proceeded 
to draw up a financial plan : the annual revenue was to 
be $10,800,000, military expenses were to be cut down to 



i8oi-i8o9 ] Policy of RetrmcJinieiit. 1 83 

$2,500,000, and the civil expenses to about $1,000,000 ; the 
remainder, $7,300,000, was to be devoted to the reduction 
of the debt. 

Neither part of this scheme worked precisely as had 
been expected. The army indeed underwent what Jeffer- 
Success of son called a " chaste reformation ; " it was cut 
the system, down from 4,000 to 2,500 men, to the great dis- 
content of the officers. The number of vessels in com- 
mission was reduced from about twenty-five to seven, and 
the construction of vessels on the stocks was stopped, 
so that in 1802 less than $1,000,000 was spent on the 
navy. Nevertheless, the civil and miscellaneous expenses 
of the government grew steadily. Under the Federalist 
administration, the total expenditures in time of peace, ex- 
clusive of interest, had never been more than $3,000,000; 
in 1802 Gallatin spent $3,700,000, and in 1809 $7,500,000. 
The debt was, however, rapidly diminished, and in 1809 
stood at only $45,000,000; nearly half of the interest 
charge was thus cut off, and for the first time the govern- 
ment found itself with more money than it knew how to 
use. The taxes had been reduced by a million and a half, 
by striking off the unpopular direct tax and excise; the 
loss was more than met by an unexpected increase in the 
revenue from customs, which in 1808 stood at $16,000,000. 

To reach this result Jefferson and Gallatin deliberately 
neglected to make ordinary preparations against attack; 
_ , , fortifications were abandoned, skilled officers 

X!)r^wD3CKS 

dismissed, ships allowed to decay at the 
wharves or on the stocks, and the accumulation of mili- 
tary material ceased. The only offset to this neglect 
was the creation of a military school at West Point in 
1802, and the training gained by the naval wars against 
the Barbary powers. 



1 84 Republican Supremacy. [§§ 98, 99. 



98. Barbary Wars (1801-1806). 

The Peace Establishment Act of March 3, 1801, au- 
thorized the President to sell all the vessels of the navy 
except thirteen fri^^ates, of which only six were 

The navy. , u , ^ • * • • ;i ^.^ , 

to be kept in commission ; and the nmiiber 
of naval officers was reduced from five hundred to two 
hundred. " I shall really be chagrined," wrote Jefferson, 
" if the v/ater in the Eastern Branch will not admit our 
laying up the whole seven there in time of peace, because 
they would be under the immediate eye of the depart- 
ment, and would require but one set of plunderers to 
The Barbary take care of them." Events were too much 
pirates foj- jefferson's genial intention. Ever since 

the Middle Ages the petty Moorish powers on the 
north coast of Africa had made piracy on the Mediter- 
ranean trade their profession. In accordance with the 
custom of European nations, in 1787 the United States 
had bought a treaty of immunity with Morocco, and 
later with Algiers, Tripoli, and Tunis. Every payment 
to one of these nests of pirates incited the others to 
make increased demands. In May, 1800, the Pasha of 
Tripoli wrote to the President of the United States: 
*' We could wish that these your expressions were followed 
by deeds, and not by empty words. ... If only flattering 
words are meant, without performance, every one will act 
as he finds convenient." Receiving no satisfaction, he 
declared war upon the United States. 

One of the first acts of Jefferson's administration was, 
therefore, to despatch a squadron to blockade Tripoli, 
The pirates ^.nd in i8o2 he was obliged to consent to a 
subdued. declaration of war by the United States. The 
frigates were unsuitable, and in 1803 Congress resumed 
the hated Federalist policy of building a navy. Four 
new vessels, of a small and handy type, were constructed, 



iSoi-i8o6.] Barbary War. 185 

and under Commodore Preble, Tripoli was compelled in 
1805 to make peace and to cease her depredations. The 
other Barbary powers were cowed by this exhibition of 
spirit, and for some years om* commerce was undisturbed. 
The first result of the war was, therefore, that the cor- 
sairs were humbled. A far greater advantage to the 
United States was the skill in naval warfare gained by 
the officers of the navy. Thenceforward it was impossi- 
ble to think of shutting the navy up in the Eastern Branch 
of the Potomac. Naval expenditures slowly increased, 
and seven years later the good effect was seen in the 
War of 181 2. 

99. Annexation of Louisiana (1803). 

Jefferson came into power as a stickler for a limited 
government, confined chiefly to foreign and commercial 
^ „ , affairs. He now entered upon the most bril- 

Jetterson's . , r i • i • • • i 

political liant episode of his administration, — the an- 

pnnciples. nexation of Louisiana ; and that transaction 
was carried out and defended upon precisely the grounds 
of loose construction which he had so much contemned. 
In 1763 France had two flourishing American colonies, 
— Louisiana and Hayti, the western end of the island 
,,- , , of San Domins^o. The former province was 

Napoleon s ■=* , , i 

colonial ceded to Spain (§ 18) ; the latter, the centre 

system. ^^ ^1^^ French colonial system, was nearly 

destroyed by a slave insurrection in 1791. When, in 
1800, Napoleon Bonaparte became First Consul and 
virtual dictator, he formed a brilliant scheme of reviv- 
ing the French colonial empire. The first step was to 
recover Louisiana ; the second was to make peace with 
England, so as to stop the naval war and release the 
French resources ; the third step was to occupy, first 
Hayti, and then Louisiana. The three plans were pur- 
sued with characteristic rapidity. In October, 1800, the 



1 86 Republican Supremacy. [§99. 

secret treaty of San Ildefonso was negotiated, by which 
Spain agreed to return Louisiana to France, the condi- 
tion being that Napoleon should create a kingdom of 
Etruria for the son-in-law of the king of Spain. In 
1802 the Peace of Amiens was made with England. 

A combined French and Spanish squadron had al- 
ready, October, 1801, carried a great expedition to occupy 
Toussaint '^^ wliolc island of San Domingo, with secret 
Louverture. orders to re-establish slavery. Then came an 
unexpected check : the fleet and the army of ten thou- 
sand experienced French troops were unable to break 
down the resistance of Toussaint Louverture, a native 
black general who aimed to be the Napoleon of the 
island. Toussaint was taken ; but the army was forced 
back into a few sea-ports, and almost swept away by 
disease. The blacks were still masters of the island. 

The next step was to have been the occupation of 
Louisiana. By this time, April, 1802, the news of the 
cession reached the United States, and drew 
the United from Jefferson a remarkable letter. " The day 
States. ^^^^ France takes possession of New Orleans," 

said he, " fixes the sentence which is to restrain her for- 
ever within her low-water mark. From that moment we 
must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation." 
As though to justify this outburst of anti-Gallican zeal on 
the part of the old friend of France, the Spanish Inten- 
dant of Louisiana, Oct. 16, 1802, withdrew the so-called 
"right of deposit" under which Americans on the upper 
Mississippi had been able to send goods to the sea and 
to receive return cargoes without the payment of Spanish 
duty. If the province were to pass to France with the 
Mississippi closed, it seemed to Jefferson essential that «^ 
we should obtain West Florida, with the port of Mobile; ^ ' * 
and in January, 1803, James Monroe was sent as special 
envoy to secure this cession. 



1763-1803] Annexation of Lonisiana. 187 

The day after he reached Paris, Livingston, the resi- 
dent minister, had closed a treaty for the cession, not of 
Louisiana West Florida, but of all Louisiana. The inner 
treaty history of this remarkable negotiation has 

been brought to light by Henry Adams in his History of 
the Administration of Jefferson. The check in San 
Domingo had dampened the colonial ardor of Napoleon ; 
war was about to break out again with England ; Napo- 
leon's ambition turned toward an European empire; and 
he lightly offered the province which had come to him 
so cheaply. Neither Livingston, Monroe, nor Jefferson 
had thought it possible to acquire New Orleans; with 
880,000 square miles of other territory it was tossed 
into the lap of the United States as the Sultan throws 
a purse of gold to a favorite. 

The treaty, dated April 30, 1803, gave to the United 
States Louisiana, " with the same extent that it now has 
Indefinite ii^ the hands of Spain, and that it had when 
boundaries. France possessed it." The two phrases, in- 
stead of explaining each other, were contradictory : Loui- 
siana as it was when France possessed it had included 
settlements as far east as the Perdido River ; Louisiana 
in the hands of Spain had extended only to the Iberville. 
The United States had therefore annexed a province 
without knowing its boundaries. We are now aware that 
Napoleon had issued orders to occupy the country on the 
north only as far as the Iberville, but on the south as far 
as the Rio Grande : at the time France refused to give 
any information on either point. Hence the United States 
gave up the claim to Texas, in which there was reason, and 
insisted on the title to West Florida, which was nowhere 
to be found in the treaty. 



1 88 Republican Supremacy, [§§ loo, loi. 



100. Federal Schemes of Disunion (1803-1809). 

The annexation of Louisiana aroused a storm in both 
hemispheres. The Spanish government vehemently pro- 
Anger of the tested, the more because the promised king- 
Federalists (Jqi-i-j Qf Etruria proved to be but a mock 
principality. In the United States the Federalists at- 
tacked both the annexation and the method of annexation 
with equal violence. The treaty promised that the people 
should as soon as possible be admitted as a State into 
the Union ; the balance of power in the government was 
thus disturbed, and the Federalists foresaw that the 
influence of New England must diminish. Their consti- 
tutional arguments were just such as had been heard 
from the Republican writers and legislatures in 1798: 
the constitution, they said, nowhere gives express power 
to annex territory, and therefore there is no such power; 
the Union is a partnership, and new members cannot be 
admitted except by unanimous consent. The Republi- 
cans furnished themselves with arguments drawn from 
the Federal arsenal : the right to annex territory, they 
Arguments ^^^^' ^ould be implied from the power to make 
forannexa- treaties, from the power to regulate territory, 
and from the "necessary and proper" clause. 
Jefferson was not so ready to give up his cherished prin- 
ciples, and proposed a constitutional amendment to ap- 
prove and confirm the cession. His party friends scouted 
the idea. The treaty was duly ratified, fifteen millions 
were appropriated for the purchase, and on Dec. 20, 1803, 
possession of the territory was given. 

The cup of the Federahsts was now full, and a few 
violent spirits, of whom Timothy Pickering was the 
Intrigues leader, suggested that the time had come to 
with Burr withdraw from the Union. They found no 
hearing among the party at large. In 1804, therefore, 



1803-1807.] Federalists and Burr. 189 

they tried to form a combination with a wing of the New 
York RepubHcans controlled by Burr, who had been read 
out of his party by the Jeffersonian wing. He came for- 
ward as an independent candidate for Governor, and asked 
for the support of the New York Federalists. Hamilton 
stood out against this movement, and wrote a letter urging 
his friends not to vote for him. Burr received the Federal- 
ist vote, but was defeated, and in his humiliation sent 
Hamilton a challenge, and killed him in the duel. The 
affair still further weakened the Federalists ; in the na- 
tional election of 1804 they cast but fourteen votes, — 
those of Connecticut, Delaware, and Maryland Even 
Massachusetts voted for Jefferson. 

Commerce was still increasing ; the Union was grow- 
ing in extent and importance ; neither the interests nor 
The B^eder- *^^^ principles of the people had suffered. The 
aiists weak- Federalist predictions of danger from Jefferson 
had not been fulfilled. There were still a few 
leaders who brooded over a plan of separation ; but the 
strength of the Federalists was now so broken that in 
1807 John Quincy Adams, son of the ex-President, and 
senator from Massachusetts, went over to the Republican 
party. 

101. The Burr Conspiracy (1806-1807). 

The election of 1804 was the last attempt of Aaron 
Burr to re-enter public life. His private character, 
Burr's already sufficiently notorious, had been de- 

schemes, stroyed by the murder of Hamilton, and he 
was a desperate man. In 1805 Burr went West, and 
was well received by many prominent men, including 
General Wilkinson, the senior officer of the United States 
army, and Andrew Jackson, then a lawyer in Nashville, 
Tennessee. His purposes were vague : he planned the 
establishment of a colony on the new Western lands; he 



I90 Republican Supremacy. [§§101,102. 

had relations with certain Spanish adventurers who wished 
the independence of Mexico ; he hinted at securing the 
secession of the Western States, with the aid of the Brit- 
ish government. His chief purpose seems to have been 
to head a revolution in the newly acquired Louisiana. 

To the rumors that Burr had some desperate and treas- 
onable intention Jefferson paid no attention. In Decem- 
Burr'sex- ber, 1806, Burr mustered a party of men at 
pedition. Blennerhasset's Island, in the Ohio River, and 
with them floated down the river. Twice attempts were 
made by local authorities to stop him and prosecute him, 
but he was allowed to continue, with about a hundred 
men, till in January, 1807, while on the lower Mississippi, 
he learned from a newspaper that the President had 
issued a proclamation directing his capture. He aban- 
doned his men, and shortly afterwards fell into the hands 
of the authorities, and was sent to Washington for trial. 

Meanwhile steps had been taken to prevent the ex- 
pected rising in Louisiana. Wilkinson was then on the 
Wilkinson's extreme western frontier. He received a 
tfeachery. cipher message from Burr, and after waiting 
for some hours to make up his mind, concluded to betray 
him, sent the letters to the government, went to New 
Orleans, and there arrested several of Burr's adherents, 
by military authority. The danger to the Union had 
been slight, the laxity on Jefferson's part unpardonable - 
Having Burr in his power, he now relentlessly pursued 
, him with a prosecution for treason. The trial 

was held in Richmond, Chief Justice Marshall 
presiding, and ended on Sept. i, 1807. The indictment 
had set forth the mustering of the men at Blennerhasset's 
Island : since the only acts which could be called treason- 
able had occurred elsewhere, the court declared the evi- 
dence insufficient, and there was nothing for the jury to 
do but to bring him in not guilty. The President had 



1803-1807.] Neutral Trade. 191 

shown that he could use force, if necessary; and the 
courts had again shown their independence of the Presi- 
dent. Burr disappeared from public notice. 



102. Aggressions on Neutral Trade (1803-1807). 

The renewal of the war between England and France 
in May, 1803, at first was advantageous to the United 
American States ; it precipitated the cession of Louisi- 
trade. ^na and it gave new employment for American 

shipping. French West Indian products were freely 
imported, re-shipped, and exported, thus avoiding the 
rule of 1756 (§ 85); as a result, the customs revenue 
leaped in one year from fourteen to twenty millions. 
In 1805 these favorable conditions were reversed. In 
Admiralty May the British admiralty courts decided that 
decisions. goods which had started from French colonies 
could be captured, even though they had been landed 
and re-shipped in the United States, Captures at once 
began; English frigates were stationed outside the port 
of New York, and vessels coming in and going out were 
insolently stopped and searched ; impressments were 
revived. In 1804 thirty-nine vessels had been captured 
by the British; in 1805 one hundred and sixteen were 
taken ; and probably a thousand American seamen were 
impressed. 

On Oct, 21, 1805, the combined French and Spanish 
fleets were overwhelmed at Trafalgar. Thenceforward 
Continental England had the mastery of the seas, while 
System. France remained supreme on land. Napoleon, 

who had in 1804 taken the title of Emperor, was deter- 
mined to destroy English trade with the Continent, and 
had no scruples against ruining neutrals in the attempt. He 
resolved upon a " Continental System," — to shut against 
the importation of English goods the ports of France and 



192 Repiiblicaji Supremacy. [§§ 102, 103. 

her dependencies and allies, including, as the result of 
recent conquests, almost the whole northern coast of 
the Mediterranean, and a considerable part of the coast 
of the German Ocean and the Baltic Sea. 

The Enghsh retaliated with an Order in Council, dated 
May 16, 1806, by which the whole coast from Brest to 
Orders and the river Elbe was declared blockaded. There 
decrees. ^^g no blockading squadron; yet American 

vessels were captured as they left their own ports bound 
for places within the specified limit. Napoleon retorted 
with the BerHn Decree of Nov. 21, 1806, in which he de- 
clared the whole British Islands in a state of blockade ; 
the trade in Enghsh merchandise was forbidden, and no 
vessel that had touched at a British port could enter a 
French port. These measures were plainly intended to 
cut off the commerce of neutrals ; and as the European 
wars had now swept in almost every seafaring power, on 
one side or the other, the Americans were the great 
neutral carriers. In January, 1807, Great Britain an- 
nounced that neutral vessels trading from one port under 
French influence to another were subject to capture, and 
that all French ports were blockaded. The Milan De- 
cree of December, 1807, completed the structure of in- 
justice by ordering the capture of all neutral vessels 
which had been searched by an English vessel. In 1806 
the Jay Treaty expired, and the Americans lost its slight 
protection. The effect of this warfare of proclamations 
was at once seen in the great increase of captures : one 
hundred and ninety-four American vessels were taken by 
England in 1807, and a large number by the French. 

103. Policy of Non-resistance (1805-1807). 

The wholesale seizure of American property was ex- 
asperating to the last degree. The disdainful impress- 



J 



1S06-1S07.] Policy of Non-i'csistance. 193 

ment of American seamen, and still more the unofficial 
blockade of the ports, would have justified war. Yet not- 
_, . withstandino^ the loss of American shipping, 

Prosperity , ° rr- &' 

ofAmeri- trade continued to prosper, and vessels en- 
can tia e. gaged in foreign commerce increased ; freights 
were so high that an annual loss by capture of ten per 
cent could be made up out of the profits. The New 
Englanders, therefore, who suffered most were not most 
anxious for war, nor could Jefferson bear to give up his 
policy of debt-reduction and of peaceful trade. Toward 
France, indeed, he showed remarkable tenderness, be- 
cause that power controlled Spain, from which Jefferson 
was eagerly seeking the cession of West Florida. 

Some American pohcy must be formulated. War 
seemed to Jefferson unnecessar}', and he therefore at- 
Gunboat tempted three other remedies, which in a meas- 
system. ^j-g neutralized each other. The first was to 

provide some kind of defence. To build new vessels 
seemed to him an invitation to the English navy to 
swoop down and destroy them. To fortify the coasts 
and harbors properly would cost fifty millions of dollars. 
He proposed, therefore, to lay up the navy and to build 
a fleet of gunboats, to be hauled up under sheds in 
time of peace, but if war came, to be manned by a naval 
militia and to repel the enemy. Between 1806 and 
1 81 2 one hundred and seventy-six gunboats were built. 
They never rendered any considerable service, and took 
$1,700,000 out of Gallatin's surplus. 

The second part of Jefferson's policy was to negotiate 
with England for a new treaty. The conditions upon 
Pinkney which he insisted were impossible, and Pink- 

treaty, ney and Monroe, therefore, in December, 1806, 

made the best terms they could : there was no article 
against impressment; they surrendered the principle 
that free ships make free goods; they practically ac- 



194 Republican Supremacy. [§§ 103, 104. 

cepted the rule of 1756. The treaty was so unacceptable 
that Jefferson never submitted it to the Senate; and 
thenceforward to the War of 1812 we had only such com- 
mercial privileges as England chose to grant. 

The only remaining arrow in Jefferson's quiver was 
the policy of commercial restriction. On April 18, 1806, 
Non-impor- ^^ ^^t was passed by which, after November 
tation Act j^^ the importation of manufactured goods 
from England and English colonies was forbidden. Even 
this was suspended on December 29. 

The effect of these feeble efforts to secure fair treat- 
ment was seen on June 27, 1807. The only excuse for 
„ the impressment of American seamen was that 
and " dies- sailors from the British men-of-war were apt 
apea e. ^^ desert when they reached an American 

port, and frequently shipped on board American vessels. 
The chief reason was the severity of naval discipline 
and the low wages paid by the British government. 
The American frigate " Chesapeake," about leaving Nor- 
folk for a Mediterranean cruise, had several such de- 
serters on board without the commander's knowledge. 
When outside the capes the British frigate " Leopard " 
suddenly bore down on her, hailed her, and her captain 
announced that he was about to search the ship for 
these deserters. Commander Barron was taken by sur- 
prise ; his guns were not ready for action, his crew was 
not yet trained. He refused to permit the search, was 
fired upon, and was obliged to surrender. Four men 
were taken off, of whom three were American citizens, 
and the " Chesapeake " carried back the news of this 
TheAmeri- humiliation. The spirit of the nation was 
cans aroused, aflame. Had Jefferson chosen, he might have 
gone to war upon this issue, and would have had the 
country behind him. The extreme point which he 
reached was a proclamation warning British armed ves- 



;8o6-i8o8.] Embargo. 195 

sels out of American waters ; he preferred a milder sort 
of warfare. 

104. The Embargo (1807-1808). 

The Non-importation Act, which up to this time had 
had no force, finally went into effect Dec. 14, 1807. Two 
^ ^ , days later news was received that the king had 

Jenerson s ' ° 

recommen- Ordered British naval officers to exercise their 
ationb. assumed right of impressment. Forthwith 

Jefferson sent a message to Congress, hinting that Eng- 
land was about to prohibit American commerce altogether, 
and recommending an embargo so as to prevent the loss 
of our ships and seamen. The Senate hurried a bill 
through all its stages in a single day ; and the House, by 
nearly two to one, accepted it. No foreign merchant 
vessel could leave an American port, except in ballast, or 
with a cargo then on board; no American merchantman 
could leave for a foreign port on any terms. 

The embargo was not really intended to save American 
shipping, for the owners were willing to run their own 
Theembar- n'sks. -^he restriction was so new, so sweep- 
go evaded. j^g, SO little in accordance with the habits of 
the people, and so destructive to the great interests of 
commerce that it was systematically evaded. Vessels 
left port on a coasting voyage, and slipped into a West In- 
dian port, and perhaps returned with a West Indian cargo. 
Severe supplementary acts were therefore necessary. 
A great trade sprang up across the border into Canada, 
followed by new restrictions, with severe penalties and 
powers of search hitherto unknown in the law of the 
United States. On Lake Champlain, on June 13, 1808, 
a band of sixty armed men fired upon United States 
troops, and carried a raft in triumph over the border. A 
prosecution for treason against one of the men involved 
was a failure. 



196 Republican Sitpremacy. [§§104,105. 

The expectation was that the President, backed up by 

the embargo, would now succeed in a negotiation with 

England, that atonement would be made for 

No settle- , ^, , ,, , , 

mentwith the "Chesapeake outrage, and that a corn- 
England, mercial treaty would at last be gained. Mr. 
George Rose came over as British minister in December. 
1807 ; but he took the unfortunate attitude that the Am- 
erican government owed England an apology for action 
growing out of the " Chesapeake " outrage, and he re- 
turned in March without accomplishing anything: the 
two countries remained in an attitude of hostility through- 
out the year. 



105. Repeal of the Embargo (1809). 

When Congress assembled in December, 1808, the 
effect of the embargo was manifest. English merchants 
Effect on engaged in the American trade protested, and 
England. asked the British government to withdraw its 
Orders in Council. Lord Castlereagh declared that the 
embargo was " operating at present more forcibly in our 
favor than any measure of hostility we could call forth, 
without war actually declared ; " English trade to the 
amount of $25,000,000 was, indeed, cut off ; but notwith- 
standing this loss, the total exports of England increased. 
" The embargo," says Henry Adams, " served only to 
lower the wages and the moral standard of the laboring 
classes throughout the British empire, and to prove their 
helplessness." 

The reception of the embargo by France was even 
more humiliating. On April 17, 1808, Napoleon issued 
Effect on ^ decree at Bayonne directing that all Amer- 
France. ^^.^j^ vessels wliich might enter the ports of 

France, Italy, and the Hanse towns should be seized, 
*' because no vessels of the United States can now navi- 



i8o8, 1809.] Repeal of the E^fibargo. 197 

gate the seas without infracting the law of the said States." 
" The Emperor applauds the embargo/' said the French 
foreign minister. 

In America the embargo, which was intended to cut off 
the profits of foreign merchants and the provisions needed 
Effect on the in foreign countries, had crippled the shipping 
United States, interests, had destroyed the export trade, and 
had almost ruined the farmers. Exports dropped in one 
year from one hundred and ten millions to twenty-two mil- 
lions; import duties were kept up during 1808 by returning 
vessels, but in 1809 sank from sixteen milhons to seven 
millions ; shipbuilding fell off by two-thirds ; shipping 
in foreign trade lost 100,000 tons; wheat fell from two 
dollars to seventy-five cents a bushel. The South, from 
which the majority in favor of the embargo had been 
drawn, suffered most of all: tobacco could not be sold, 
and Virginia was almost bankrupt. 

The money loss did not measure the injury to the 
country. New England ingenuity was devoted to new 
The embargo methods of avoiding the law of the land, and 
a failure. ^ passionate feeling of sectional injury sprang 
up. In the election of 1808 the Federalists carried all 
New England except Vermont, and had a few Southern 
votes ; and the Republican majority in Congress was much 
cut down. The embargo had plainly failed, and the only 
alternative seemed to be war. Even Jefferson was obliged 
to admit that the embargo must end a few months later; 
" But I have thought it right," he wrote, " to take no part 
myself in proposing measures, the execution of which 
will devolve on my successor." It became known that 
The embargo Madison, the President-elect, favored the re- 
repealed, pg^i q£ ^]-^g embargo in June, and that Jeffer- 
son was only anxious that it should last out his adminis- 
tration. The discontent of New England was so manifest 
that a South Carolina member said : " You have driven 



198 Republican Supremacy. [§ 105. 

us from the embargo. The excitement in the East 
renders it necessary that we should enforce the embargo 
with the bayonet, or repeal it. I will repeal it, — and 
I could weep over it more than over a lost child." 
On Feb. 2, 1809, the House, by a vote of 70 to 40, de- 
cided upon immediate repeal. The only question now 
was what policy should be substituted. On February 28 
an agreement was reached : the embargo was replaced 
by a non-intercourse law which forbade British or French 
vessels to enter American ports ; but there was no threat 
against the captors of American vessels. 

Throughout his whole administration Jefferson had 
never before been confronted with an offensive bill. He 
Jefferson ^^^^ been practically the leader in both houses 
humiliated. Qf Congress, and until this moment his follow- 
ers had never deserted him. He could not end his ad- 
ministration with a veto, and he signed the act, although 
it was a tacit condemnation of his whole poHcy with 
reference to neutral trade. The defence of the embargo 
was that it prevented war : but it had inflicted on the 
country the material losses and excited the factional spirit 
which would have resulted from war ; and the danger 
of war was greater at the end than at the beginning of 
the experiment. 



1 809-18 1 5-] Bibliography, 199 

CHAPTER X. 
THE UNION IN DANGER (1809-1815). 



106. References. 

Bibliographies. — W. E. Foster, Referetices to Presidential Ad- 
ministrations^ 12-15 ; J. Winsor, Narrative and Critical History^ 
VII. 320-323, 341-343, 420-437, 457-460, 522-524; Channing and 
Hart, Guide, §§ 170-173. 

Historical Maps. — Nos. i and 4, this volume {Epoch Maps, 
Nos. 7 and 9) ; T. MacCoun, Historical Geography ; Henry Adams, 
United States, VI., VII,, VIW., passim ; Anderson, Canada (1814); 
Arrowsmith, Map of the United States (1813) ; Scribner, Statistical 
Atlas, Plate 14 ; school histories of Channing, Johnston, Scudder, 
and Thomas. 

General Accounts. — R. Hildreth, United States, VI. 149-674 ; 
H. Von Hoist, Constitutional History, I. 226-272; J. Schouler, 
United States, II. 194-444; J. B. McMaster, United States, III. 
339-560 (to 1812), IV. ; Bryant and Gay, Popular History, IV. 185- 
244 ; Geo. Tucker, United States, II. 349-515 ; III. 21-145 ; Brad- 
ford, Constitutional History, I. 330-410. 

Special Histories. — Henry Adams, History of the United States, 
V.-IX. ; C. Schurz, Henry Clay, I. 38-137 ; S. H. Gay, James 
Madison, 283-337 ; C. J. Ingersoll, Historical Sketch of the Second 
War ; T. Roosevelt, Naval War of 1812 ; J. Armstrong, Notices of the 
War of 181 2 ; B. J. Lossing, Pictorial Field-book of the War of 
1S12 ; H, M. Brackenridge, History of the Late War ; William Jones, 
Military Occurrences and Naval Occurrences ; E. S. Maclay, 
United States Navy. 

Contemporary Accounts. — J. Q. Adams, Memoirs, II., III. 
(ch. ix.); S. G. Goodrich, Recollections, I. 435-514; II. 9-60; Dolly 
Madison, Memoirs and Letters ; John Randolph, Letters to a Young 
Relative: S. Leech, Thirty Years from Home (by a seaman of the 
Macedonian); W. Cobbett, Pride of Britannia Humbled (181 5) ; 
Coggeshall, History of the Ainerican Privateers; William Sullivan, 
Familiar Letters on Public Characters, 290-355 ; Timothy Dwight, 
History of the Hartford Convention ; Works of Jefferson, Madison, 
Gallatin, Dallas, Clay. — Reprints in M. Carey, Olive Branch ; A. 
Johnston, American Orations, I. ; American History told by Contem- 
poraries, III. 



200 The Unioji in Danger. [§§ 107, loS 



107. Non-Intercourse Ijaws (1809, 1810). 

James Madison, who became President March 4, 
1809, felt that his administration was to be a continua- 
,, ,. , tion of that of Jefferson ; and he took over 

Madison s . „ 

administra- three members of Jeiierson s cabinet, mclud- 
^'°"- ing Gallatin. The Secretary of State, Robert 

Smith, was incapable, and Madison was practically his 
own foreign minister. 

The condition of European affairs was, on the whole, 
favorable to America. In 1807 Russia had formed an 
Tliesitua- alHance with France and had accepted the 
tion abroad. Continental System, thus cutting off American 
trade; but in 1808 the French lost ground in Spain, and 
the Spanish and Portuguese ports were thus opened to 
American commerce. Nevertheless a hundred and eight 
merchantmen were captured by England in 1808. 

To defend American commerce and the national honor, 
the administration possessed but three weapons, — war, 
Non-inter- retaliatory legislation, and diplomacy. War 
course Act. meant both danger and sacrifice ; there was 
already a deficit in the Treasury. Congress, therefore, 
continued to legislate, while at the same time attempts 
were made to negotiate with both France and England. 
The Non-intercourse Act continued in force throughout 
1809, and hardly impeded American commerce; trade 
with England and France went on through a few inter- 
mediary ports such as Lisbon and Riga, and there was 
Favora- 3. brisk direct trade under special license of 

bie trade. Q^g or the Other of the powers. The ship- 
ping engaged in foreign trade now reached a higher point 
than ever before. The profits of American vessels were 
so great that forged American papers were openly sold 
in England. The defection of New England was stayed, 
and the President was supported by a fair majority in 



J 



iSo9, 1810.] Non4nte}'coHrse. 201 

both Houses. It remained to be seen whether non- 
intercourse would have any effect in securing a with- 
drawal of the offensive orders and decrees. 



108. Fruitless Negotiations (1809-1811). 

On April 19, 1809, Madison obtained what seemed a 
diplomatic trmmph ; Erskine, the new British envoy, 
The Erskine signed a foniial agreement that the British 
treaty , government should withdraw the Orders in 
Council. A proclamation was then issued, announcing 
that trade might be renewed with Great Britain. As 
France had from the first protested that her Decrees were 
simply retaliatory, it was expected that they would in 
due time also be annulled. The satisfaction of the 
country was short-lived : Erskine Iiad gone beyond his 
instructions. Once more the opportunity to conciUate 
the United States was thrown away by England; his 
agreement was formally disavowed ; and on August 9 the 
President had the mortification of issuing a second proc- 
lamation, announcing that the Orders had not been with- 
drawn, and that trade with England was still forbidden. 

Another British minister, James Jackson, was received 
October i, and began his negotiation by asserting that 
Jackson's Madison had tricked Erskine into signing an 
negotiation, agreement which the American government 
knew he was not authorized to make. The charge was 
denied, and his relations were finally closed on November 
8 by a note in which he was informed that inasmuch as 
he "had used a language which cannot be understood but 
as reiterating and even aggravating the same gross insin- 
uation, no further communications will be received.'' 
Having thus practically been dismissed for brutally insult- 
ing the government to which he was accredited, Jackson 
made a tour of the Eastern States, and was received with 



202 Tlie Union in Danger, [§§ io8, 109 

hospitality and enthusiasm by the leading New England 
Federalists. 

From France no satisfaction could be obtained during 
1809. To remove all restrictions on commerce was to 
Macon Bill give up everything ; but Congress v/as tired of 
No. 2. resistance, and on May i, 1810, passed the 

" Macon Bill No. 2," which was practically a surrender of 
all the principles at stake. It provided that commerce 
should be free, but that if either England or France 
should withdraw her Orders or Decrees, intercourse should 
be prohibited with the nation which retained them. The 
probable effect on France was speedily seen by the pub- 
Anger of hcation of a Decree which had been issued 
France. March 23, 1810: it declared that all Ameri- 

can vessels which had entered French ports after the date 
of the Non-Intercourse Act of 1809 were to be seized. 
This was practically an act of war. The Macon bill now 
suggested to the Emperor that the Americans might be 
entrapped into another ambush: on August 5 his for- 
eign minister wrote to Armstrong, the American minister, 
that "the Emperor loves the Americans," and that he 
, , would revoke the Milan and Berlin Decrees 

Pretended . ^^ , . i , -.^ , •, 

revocation from November i, provided England would 
by France. withdraw her Orders in Council. Five days 
earlier the secret Decree of the Trianon had ordered the 
seizure of all American vessels that might reach French 
ports. The object of these measures was to entice 
American vessels within the reach of the French, and the 
ruse was successful. November i the President issued 
a proclamation declaring trade with England suspended 
because France had withdrawn her Decrees. Then en- 
sued a long diplomatic discussion: since captures of 
American vessels by French cruisers continued, the 
British government refused to admit that the Decrees 
had been withdrawn, and complained of the prohibition 



1809-1811.] Fruitless Negotiations, 203 

of English trade. On December 25 Napoleon drew in 
his net by a general order for the seizure of all American 
vessels in French ports; and property to the value of 
about ten million dollars was thus confiscated. 

The British ministry kept its promise to Jackson, 
not to recall him till the end of a year. In February, 

181 1, Pinkney, our minister in London, de- 
nJgoHadon mandcd his passports, and left England with 
with Eng- a tacit threat of war. The British government 

instantly sent a fourth minister, Mr. Foster, to 
the United States, and on June 13, 181 1, reparation was 
made for the " Leopard-Chesapeake " outrage. This 
tardy act was received with coldness : four weeks earlier 
the English corvette " Little Belt " had fired upon the 
American frigate " President ; " the fire was returned, 
and the " Little Belt " captured. 

109. The War Party (1811). 

The responsibility for peace or war was now thrown 
upon the Congress which assembled Nov. 4, 181 1. It 
., ,. , had been elected at a time when it was be- 

Madison s , , _ 

first Con- lieved that France had at last withdrawn the 
gress. Decrees, and it had a strong Republican major- 

ity in both branches; there were but six Federalists in the 
Senate, and thirty-seven in the House. Even Massachu- 
setts had chosen a Republican senator. 

The new Congress had little of the timid spirit of its 
predecessor. It contained an unusual number of vigor- 
The young ous young men. Among the members who 
Republicans, appeared for the first time in the House were 
John C. Calhoun, Langdon Cheves, and William Lowndes ; 
two years later Daniel Webster took his seat. The first 
act of the new House was to elect as its Speaker Henry 
Clay of Kentucky, — a young man for the first time 
a member of the House, and known to be in favor of 



204 ^/'^^ Union in Danger. [§ 109. 

war. His selection meant a change of counsels ; the 
committees were reorganized, and Calhoun was made a 
leading member of the committee on Foreign Relations. 

For the first time since 1807 war seemed likely. The 
controlling element in Congress had no longer the tradi- 
Influence of tions of the Revolutionary War and the influ- 
theWest. gj^^^g q{ Revolutionary statesmen. Many of 
these members represented interior States, having no sea- 
coast, and subject to no danger from invasion. These 
States were too new to command the affectionate support 
of their people ; to their members the United States gov- 
ernment represented the power and dignity of America ; 
they chafed under the humiliations which had so long 
been suffered. The growth of the South and West ena- 
bled Congress to override the Federalists of New Eng- 
land and the peace' Republicans of the Middle States. 

The President was a peaceful man, but he was unable 
to manage Congress, and was weary of the long series of 
Madison's offensive measures against his country. The 
attitude. annual message bore a distinctly warlike tone, 
especially toward England ; and Gallatin suggested in- 
creased import duties and new war taxes. 

The grievances of the United States were heavy, but 
to go to war was difficult. The government was ham- 
Whowas pered by the fact that the Nev/ England ship- 
the enemy ? owners, in whose behalf the government was 
negotiating and threatening, preferred an irregular and 
hazardous trade to war. A more serious difficulty was that 
France had notoriously been a worse enemy than Eng- 
land ; she had done all the open injury in her power, and 
had then treacherously entrapped our vessels, Madison 
had taken the untenable ground that our trade was re- 
spected by France, and that the British government was 
therefore bound to withdraw its Orders. The New Eng- 
land Federalists had a corresponding partisan friendship 



iSir, 1S12.] War Party. 205 

for England, and could sec no offence in the blockade 
of our coasts, or even in impressment. 

Yet the war spirit against England was steadily rising. 
The reason is to be found in a speech delivered by Henry 
Designs on Clay some months later: " An honorable peace 
Canada. jg obtainable only by an efficient war. My 

plan would be to call out the ample resources of the 
country, give them a judicious direction, prosecute the 
war with the utmost vigor, strike wherever we can reach 
the enemy at sea or on land, and negotiate the terms of 
peace at Quebec or Hahfax." The immediate object of 
the war was, therefore, not to secure the rights of vessel- 
owners : war would instantly make all American com- 
merce subject to capture ; the evident purpose was to 
take Canada, and by the occupation of British territory 
to force England to make a favorable peace. 

On Jan. 6, 181 2, a bill for raising twenty-five thousand 
troops was passed, and fifty thousand volunteers were au- 
Preliinina- thorized. The enthusiasm of Congress was 
ries of war. chilled by new action of the French govern- 
ment, which proved its friendhness by capturing American 
merchantmen wherever found upon the sea. Neverthe- 
less, on April i the President recommended an embargo, 
which was understood to be preliminary to war with 
England. As the time for Presidential nominations came 
on, the New York Republicans bolted, and nominated 
De Witt Clinton. 

Still the war was delayed. Although on May 19 news 
was received that the British government would not yield 
Warde- <^he Orders in Council, it was June i before 
ciared. Madison sent to Congress a message recom- 

mending war, and not until June 18 did the declaration 
pass. Nearly forty Republican members refused to vote 
for it, and the test vote was seventy-nine to forty-nine in 
the House, and nineteen to thirteen in the Senate. 



2o6 The Union in Daftger. [§§"109, no. 

The causes of the war, as set forth in the messages of 
the President and in contemporary speeches, were four. 
Causes of The first was that the British had tampered 
the war. y^\^\^ ^he Indians and urged them to hostilities : 

it was true, and it was trying ; but the breaking out of 
war simply aggravated that difficulty. The second charge 
was the interference with neutral trade by the Orders in 
Council; but the injury from the French Decrees had 
been more humiliating. The third complaint was per- 
haps the most serious and exasperating ; it was the virtual 
blockade of American ports by British cruisers, and 
their interference with arriving and departing vessels. 
Finally came the impressment of American seamen. 

Of these grievances the last two had not up to this 
time been put forward as cause for war. On June 16, 
_ , two days before the declaration of war, the 

Orders m . -' , , , 

Council British government reluctantly withdrew the 

withdrawn. Qrders in Council against which the United 
States had for six years protested. Before hostilities 
had fairly begun, notice was sent to the American gov- 
ernment : it insisted on prosecuting the war, which was 
therefore undertaken ostensibly for the protection of the 
coast and the prevention of impressments. 



110. Strength of the Combatants (1812). 

In every respect except in the numbers available for land 

operations the Americans seemed inferior to the Enghsh. 

, . It was a war between a people of eight mil- 
Population. ,. , 1 r 1 .. ^ -v 

lions and a people of nearly twenty millions. 

The United States had been deceived by eleven years of 

great prosperity, and failed to see that the revenues of the 

government rose almost entirely from import duties, 

which would be cut off by war; and Congress showed 

a decided unwillingness to supplement these with other 



i8i2.] Strength of the Combatants, 207 

taxes. In 181 1 the customs produced $13,000,000, in 
Financial i8 1 2 but $9,000,000 ; and the total revenue of 
resources. ^^ government was less than $10,000,000. 
The war, once begun, cost about $30,000,000 a year. 
The government was therefore thrown back upon loans, 
and it borrowed $98,000,000 during the war. As the 
credit of the government began to diminish, those loans 
were sold at prices much less than their face, and the 
country was obliged to issue $37,000,000 of Treasury 
notes. Meanwhile, England was raising by taxation 
nearly ^70,000,000 a year, and in 18 15 was successfully 
carrying a debt of ^860,000,000. The remnant of Repub- 
lican prejudice against Federalist finances was just suffi- 
cient to prevent the re-chartering of the United States 
Bank in 181 1. The country, therefore, entered on the 
war with insufficient means, impaired credit, and a 
defective financial organization. 

In national spirit, also, the United States was the 
weaker. The British had for twenty years been carrying 
National on a popular war with France, in which they 
spirit. \^2^^ shown themselves far superior at sea, and 

had gained great military experience. In the United States 
sectional spirit was more violent than at any time since 
1798. We now know that some of the leading Federal- 
ists were, up to the outbreak of the war, in confidential 
communication with British envoys. In 1809 and 1810 
the Republican governor and legislature in Pennsylvania 
were opposing with military violence the service of the 
writs of the United States District Court in the Olmstead 
Case. The disaffection of the Federalists was publicly 
Disloyal expressed by Josiah Quincy, of Massachusetts, 

utterances. \^ ^ speech in i8i I ou the admission of Louisi- 
ana : " If this bill passes, it is my deliberate opinion 
that it is virtually a dissolution of this Union ; that it will 
free the States from their moral obligation; and, as it 



2o8 TJie Union in Danger. [§§rio, m 

will be the right of all, so it will be the duty of some, 
definitely to prepare for a separation, amicably if they 
can, violently if they must." 

Nor did the military and naval preparation of the 
country make up for its political weakness. The regular 
The two army of the United States was composed of 
armies. 6,7oo men. The service was so unpopular that 

two proclamations were issued in 1812 promising pardons 
to deserters. The highest number of officers and men 
in the regular army was during the war but 34,000. The 
dependence of the government, therefore, for offensive 
operations was upon the State militia. The general 
officers were old Revolutionary soldiers or men who had 
seen no service; the military organization was defective; 
and the Secretary of War, Eustis, was incom.petent. In 
this very year, 181 2, the British regular troops under 
Wellington were steadily beating back the French, who 
had been supposed to be the best soldiers in the world. 

In naval affairs comparison between the two powers 
was almost impossible. The American navy consisted of 
twelve vessels, the largest of which were the three 44-gun 
The two frigates " United States," " Constitution," and 
navies. u President." The number of men was 4,000, 

with 1,500 marines. The British navy was composed of 
eight hundred and thirty vessels, of which two hundred 
and thirty were larger than any of the American ships ; 
they had 150,000 seamen, and unlimited power of im- 
pressing sailors. 

The theatre of war was to be much the same as in the 
French and Indian war (§ 14). The lines stretched from 
The theatre Nova Scotia to the Great Lakes, but settle- 
of the war. ment had extended so far westward that De- 
troit marked the flank of both powers, and Lake Erie was 
included in the field of operations. Like Braddock in 
1755 (§ 16), the Americans expected to roll the enemy's 



i8i2, 1813.] War on tJie NortJicm Frontier. 209 

line up from west to east; and at the same time they 
meant to penetrate where Loudon and Abercrombie had 
attacked, through Lake Ontario and Lake Champlain. 
For harbor and coast defence they relied chiefly on the 
fleet of gunboats. 



111. War on the Northern Frontier (1812, 1813). 

For the beginning of the campaign two expeditions 
were planned, — oneacross the river from Detroit, the other 
Campaign across the Niagara from Buffalo. The experi- 
of 1812. gnce of the Revolution threw little light on the 

problem of conveying large bodies of men, with the neces- 
sary stores, across such stretches of wild country. Gen- 
eral Hull, in command at Detroit, after a single effort to 
invade Canada, was forced back, and on Aug. 16, 181 2, 
was brought to a disgraceful capitulation. Fort Dear- 
born, now Chicago, and Mackinac were captured at about 
the same time. In October and November two attempts 
were made to cross the Niagara into Canada. Owing to 
the incapacity of the commanders. Van Rensselaer and 
Smythe, six thousand American troops were held in 
check, and smaller bodies of them defeated, by one thou- 
sand British^ The military authorities in the centre 
waited for the reduction of western Canada before 
attempting to advance northward to Montreal. 

The campaign of 1813 was httle more fortunate. The 
British, with their savage allies, held Detroit; but a fresh- 
Campaign water navy had been constructed by both 
of 1813. parties on Lake Erie, and the victory of 

Commodore Perry gave the control of Lake Erie, and 
thus of Detroit, to the Americans. On the Niagara 
frontier the Americans were successful in occupying the 
British forts on the western side of the river, but could 
not penetrate the country. A northern expedition de 
14 



210 The Union in Danger. [§§111,112 

scended the St. Lawrence, but was obliged to retire into 
American territory without result ; and in the last days of 
the year the Niagara posts were again abandoned. 

112. Naval Warfare (1812-1815), 

When the war broke out, the purpose of the adminis- 
tration was to keep the vessels of the United States navy 
The first ^"^ P^^^ ^^^ harbor and coast defence. An 
cruise. order was sent to New York authorizing a 

brief preliminary cruise, and within one hour Commodore 
Rodgers, with the frigates "President" and "Congress," 
the ship "Hornet" and brig "Argus," had got to sea. 
Within two days the little squadron attacked the British 
frigate " Belvidera," which had made herself obnoxious by 
her blockade of American ports, but lost her. On August 
19 the frigate " Constitution," Captain Hull, met the 
British frigate " Guerriere," renowned for its unauthor- 
^ ,. u ■ ized search of American vessels: in thirty 

English cruis- -' 

ers captured, minutes the " Guerriere was taken ; and the 
"Constitution" returned in triumph to Boston. The ef- 
fects of this brilliant victory were immediately felt : 
New England shared in it; British naval prestige had 
received a damaging blow; and the Navy Department 
could no longer hope to keep the navy at home for police 
duty Meantime the sloop-of-war " Wasp " had cap- 
tured the British brig " Frolic " of equal force; and De- 
catur, in the frigate " United States," on October 25 took 
the British frigate " Macedonian," A few weeks later 
the frigate " Constitution " captured the British frigate 
"Java." 

The result of six months naval warfare was the capture 
of three British frigates and two smaller vessels, besides 
large numbers of merchantmen. Am^erican commerce 
had been almost driven from the seas, but only three small 



1812-1815] Naval Warfare. 211 

American cruisers had been taken. The victories were 
more than unexpected, they were astounding In nearly 
Effect of the every fight the American vessel Avas of heavier 
victories. tonnage, and threw a heavier broadside; but 
the sailors were fighting the most renowned naval power 
in the world. The British captains in every case sought 
the encounter, and they were defeated by the superior 
tactical skill, and especially the superior gunnery, of 
the Americans, Congress was obliged by the force of 
public sentiment to begin the construction of new vessels. 
At the same time American privateers ranged the seas 
and brought in British merchantmen. In 1813 there 
was a minor naval warfare on Lakes Erie, Ontario, and 
Champlain. Two small armed vessels, the '-Peacock" 
and the " Boxer,*' were captured at sea by the Americans; 
and the ship " Essex," under Captain Porter, ranged the 
Pacific and captured thirteen vessels. 

The tide had now begun to turn. In June, 1813, 
Captain Lawrence, of the frigate " Chesapeake," was 
^, . challenged by Captain Broke, of the " Shan- 

The Amer- ^ r ^ ^ - ^ 11 r ^ 

ican navy non, to fight him near the harbor of Boston, 
subdued. People assembled on Marblehead Neck to see 
the English cruiser made a prize; after a hard fight the 
" Chesapeake " was captured and towed into Halifax, 
It was the victory of disciplined courage over courage 
less trained, and perhaps less well handled. By this time 
large blockading squadrons had been sent out, and most 
of the American fleet was shut up in the harbors of 
Boston, New London, and New York. The frigate 
" President " was captured while endeavoring to escape 
from New York; the "Essex" was taken in a neutral 
port ; and for a time there was no American cruiser on 
the sea. 

The defence of the newly acquired American reputa- 
tion at sea was thus left to the privateers. They were 



2 12 The Union in Danger. [§§112,113 

small, handy vessels, apt at striking, and quick to run away. 
In 1 813 they captured four hundred prizes, while the 
American national cruisers took but seventy-nine. The 
privateers. u True-Blooded Yankee " alone in thirty-seven 
days look twenty-seven vessels, some of them in Dublin 
Bay, and was not captured. The loss of property and of 
prestige was so great that in 1814 insurance on vessels 
crossing the Irish Channel was rated at thirteen per cent. 
During two and a half years of war the privateers took 
fourteen hundred prizes, and the cruisers took three hun- 
dred more. On the other hand, about seventeen hundred 
American merchantmen had been captured by the British. 
The flag of the United States on unarmed vessels had at 
the end of 1814 almost ceased to float on the ocean. 

113. Disastrous Campaign of 1814. 

Nothing but a total want of understanding of the con- 
ditions in Europe could have brought about the War of 
The sitiia- i8i2. In 1811 the Continental System (§ 102) 
tion abroad. \^^^ broken down, because Russia would no 
longer cut off the trade in American ships. The result 
of this breach was Napoleon's Russian campaign of 
181 2; his success would have totally excluded American 
commerce from the Baltic, and would probably have 
resulted in the overthrow of England. The Americans 
were assisting the cause of a great tyranny and a great 
commercial monopoly. 

During 1812 and 1813, while the Americans were vainly 
struggling to capture a few petty forts on the Canadian 
Fall of frontier. Napoleon was falling back step by 

Napoleon. g^gp . ^nd on April 6, 1814, he abdicated his 
throne, and a general European peace was made. 

The result was new energy in the American war. 
Twelve thousand English veteran troops were despatched 



i8i4-] Disastrous Campaigns. 213 

to Canada, and expeditions were planned to harass the 
American coast. The struggle was renewed on the Niag- 
Lundy's ^'^'^ frontier under the efficient command of 
Lane. Jacob Brown, a New York militia general. An 

American force penetrated into Canada and fought the suc- 
cessful battle of Lundy's Lane ; but Brown was wounded, 
and his forces abandoned the field. The British now at- 
tempted to invade the United States; the Maine coast 
was occupied, almost without resistance, as far south as 
English' the Penobscot; the Americans were attacked 
invasion. ^X Fort Erie, on the west side of the Niagara; 
and a force of eighteen thousand men moved up Lake 
Champlain to Plattsburg. On September i r its advance 
was checked by a field-work and an American fleet under 
Macdonough. Both at Fort Erie and at Plattsburg the 
veteran British troops were beaten off by the Americans 
behind their breastworks. Meanwhile the nation had 
been overwhelmed with terror and shame by the capture 
Capture of of Washington. Five thousand British troops 
Washington landed from the Chesapeake, marched fifty 
miles across a populous country, and coolly took the 
national capital. The defence made by General Winder 
is characterized in his order to the artillery when, with 
seven thousand militia, he was about to make a stand : 
" When you retreat, take notice that you must retreat by 
the Georgetown road." The President and cabinet fled, 
and the public buildings were burned, in alleged retali- 
ation for destruction of buildings in Canada ; and the 
assailing force withdrew to its ships without molestation. 
Encouraged by this success, a similar attack was made 
upon Baltimore; here a spirited resistance from behind 
intrenchments once more beat the British off. 

Now came the news that an expedition was preparing 
to attack the Gulf coast. Andrew Jackson, who had 
been engaged in Indian wars in the southwest, was put 



214 ^^^^ Union in Danger. [§§113,111 

in command. Still, he made no preparation for the de- 
fence of New Orleans, until, on December 10, the British 
Attack on expedition of fifty sail was sighted. Jackson 
New Orleans, ^q^ showed his native energy; troops were 
hurried forward, and militia were brought together. A 
want of common watchfulness suffered the British to 
reach a point within seven miles of New Orleans before 
they met any resistance. Then Jackson made such de- 
fence as he could. He formed an intrenched line with 
artillery ; and here, with about forty-five hundred men, he 
awaited the advance of eight thousand of the British. 
They attacked him Jan. 8, 181 5, and were repulsed. 

114. Question of the MiHtia (1812-1814). 

As at New Orleans, so throughout the war, the greater 
part of the fighting was done by State militia hastily as- 
New England sembled, imperfectly disciplined, and serving 
disaffected. Q^iy fQj- short tcmis. From the beginning, 
however, the New England States had refused to furnish 
militia on the call of the general government. They did 
not interfere with volunteer recruiting, and Massachusetts 
alone supplied as many troops as came from Virginia 
and North and South Carolina; but they declined offi- 
cially to take part in offensive military operations. The 
war was very unpopular to the New Englanders because 
of the great losses to their commerce, and because they 
paid more than half the expense ; nor had New England 
any sympathy with that invasion of Canada which was 
so popular in the West. 

As soon as war broke out, the Secretary of War author- 
ized General Dearborn to summon twenty thousand mili- 
Miiitia tia from the New England States. Care was 

refused. taken in sending the call to ask for small de- 

tachments of the militia, so as to rid the United States of 



i8i2-i8i4-] Question of the Militia. 215 

the general militia officers appointed by the States. The 
result of these combined causes was that the Governor of 
Connecticut refused to send militia, declaring that he must 
"yield obedience to the paramount authority of the Con- 
stitution and the laws," The Massachusetts House voted 
that the "war is a wanton sacrifice of our best interests ; " 
and the Governor of Massachusetts informed the Presi- 
dent that since there was no invasion, there was no consti- 
tutional reason for sending the militia. New Hampshire 
took smiilar ground, and the governor of Rhode Island 
congratulated the legislature on the possession of two 
cannon, with which that State might defend itself against 
an invader. On Nov. 10, 1813, Governor Chittenden of 
Vermont ordered the recall of a brigade which had been 
summoned outside the boundary of the State, declaring 
it to be his opinion that " the military strength and re- 
sources of this State must be reserved for its own 
defence and protection exclusively." 

The general government had no means of enforcing 
its construction of the Constitution. It did, however, 
-- . , withdraw garrisons from the New England 

JNational ^ o 

government forts, leaving those States to defend them- 
ampere . gelves ; and refused to send them their quota of 
the arms which were distributed among the States. This 
attitude was so well understood that during the first few 
months of the war English cruisers had orders not to 
New England Capture vcssels owned in New England. As 
attacked. t|-jg y^^^ advanced, these orders were withdrawn, 
and the territory of Massachusetts in the District of 
Maine was invaded by British troops. An urgent call 
for protection was then made upon the general govern- 
ment ; but even in this crisis Massachusetts would not 
permit her militia to pass under the control of national 
military officers. 



2i6 The Union in Danger. [§ii5- 



115. Secession Movement in New Engla,nd (1814). 

More positive and more dangerous opposition had been 
urged in New England from the beginning of the war. 
Federalist Besides the sacrifice of men, Massachusetts 
successes. furnished more money for the war than Vir- 
ginia. In the elections of 1812 and 1813 the Federalists 
obtained control of every New England State government, 
and secured most of the New England members of Con- 
gress. The temper of this Federalist majority may be seen 
in a succession of addresses and speeches in the Massachu- 
setts legislature. On June 15, 181 3^ Josiah Quincy offered 
Opposition "^ resolution that " in a war like the present, 
to the war. waged without justifiable cause and prosecuted 
in a manner which indicates that conquest and ambition 
are its real motives, it is not becoming a moral and relig- 
ious people to express any approbation of military or 
naval exploits which are not immediately connected with 
the defence of our sea-coast and soil." As the pressure 
of the war grew heavier, the tone in New England grew 
sterner. On Feb. 18, 18 14, a report was made to the 
Massachusetts legislature containing a declaration taken 
almost literally from Madison's Virginia Resolution of 
1798 (§ 90), that "whenever the national compact is vio- 
lated, and the citizens of the State oppressed by cruel and 
unauthorized laws, this legislature is bound to interpose 
its power and wrest from the oppressor his victim." 

The success of the British attacks in August and Sep- 
tember, 1 8 14, seemed to indicate the failure of the war. 
Impotence Congress met on September 19 to confront the 
of Congress, growing danger: but it refused to authorize a 
new levy of troops ; it refused to accept a proposition for 
a new United States Bank ; it consented with reluctance 
to new taxes. The time seemed to have arrived when 
the protests of New England against the continuance of 



iSi2-i8i4.] Move VIC lit ill New England. 217 

tlie war might be made effective. The initiative was 
Resistance taken by Massachusetts, which, on October i6' 
threatened voted to raise a million dollars to support a 
State army of ten thousand troops, and to ask the other 
New England States to meet in convention. 

On Dec. 15, 18 14, delegates assembled at Hartford 
from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, with 
unofficial representatives from New Hampshire and Ver- 
mont. The head of the Pvlassachusetts delegation was 
George Cabot, who had been chosen because of his known 
A conven- Opposition to the secession of that State. As 
tion called, ^^ ^^S.^ himself : " We are going to keep you 
young hot-heads from getting into mischief." The ex- 
pectation throughout the country was that the Hartford 
convention would recommend secession. Jefferson wrote : 
" Some apprehend danger from the defection of Massa- 
chusetts. It is a disagreeable circumstance, but not a 
dangerous one. If they become neutral, we are sufficient 
for one enemy without them ; and, in fact, we get no aid 
from them now." 

After a session of three weeks, the Hartford Conven- 
tion adjourned, Jan. 14, 181 5, and pubhshed a formal re- 
Hartford port. They declared that the Constitution had 
Convention. 5^^^ violated, and that " States which have 
no common umpire must be their own judges and 
execute their own decisions." They submitted a list of 
amendments to the Constitution intended to protect a 
minority of States from aggressions on the part of the 
majority. Finally they submitted, as their ultimatum, 
that they should be allowed to retain the proceeds of the 
national customs duties collected within their borders. 
Secession Behind the whole document was the implied 
impending intention to withdraw from the Union if this 
demand were not complied with. To comply was to 
deprive the United States of its financial power, and was 



2i8 The Union in Danger. [§§115,116. 

virtually a dissolution of the constitution. The dele- 
gates who were sent to present this powerful remon- 
strance to Congress were silenced by the news that 
peace had been declared. 



116. The Peace of Ghent (1812-1814). 

Three months after the war broke out, the Russian 
government had offered mediation; it regretted to see 
Russian ^h^ Strength of the English allies wasted in a 

mediation minor contcst with America. Madison eagerly 
seized this opportunity, and on May 9, 1813, Gallatin and 
Bayard were sent as special commissioners. On arriving 
in Russia they found that the British government had 
refused the offer of mediation. The immediate effect 
was to take Gallatin out of the Treasury, and he was fol- 
lowed by Secretary Campbell, to whose in- 

Amencan ^ , ^ -^ . . . 

commission- competence the financial impotence of the war 
erssem. -^ partly due. Toward the end of 1813 an 

offer of direct negotiation was made by the British gov- 
ernment, and John Quincy Adams, Jonathan Russell, and 
Henry Clay were added to the negotiators. The absence 
of Clay, who had exercised such influence as Speaker of 
the House, accounts for the apathy of Congress in 18 14. 

It was not until Aug. 8, 18 14, that the commissioners 
finally met English commissioners at Ghent. Of the 
grievances which had brought on the war, most had been 
The effect removed by the European peace ; neutral ves- 
ofEuro- sels were no longer captured; the blockade 
pean peace. ^£ ^j-j^gj-j^^jj ports ill time of peace was not 
likely to be resumed ; and the impressment of American 
seamen ceased because the English navy was reduced. 
The two countries were therefore fighting over dead 
questions. The Americans, however, naturally desired, in 
making peace, to secure a recognition of the principles 



1812-1814.] Peace of Ghent. 219 

for which they had gone to war ; and the British had now 
no other enemy, and were incensed at the temerity of the 
httle nation which had attempted to invade Canada and 
had so humiHated England at sea. Gradually, the com- 
missioners began to find common ground. 

mpressmen , q^^jj^^Jj^ reported to the home government that 
in his judgment no article could be secured renouncing 
the right to impress British subjects wherever found. 
With a heavy heart, Madison consented that that point 
should be omitted from the treaty. 

During 1814 great pressure was put upon the British 
government to make peace, on account of the loss inflicted 
The war ^^ American privateers. The war was costing 
unpopular England about ten million pounds sterling a 
inEngan . yg^r, and no definite result had been gained 
except the capture of a part of Maine and of the Ameri- 
can post of Astoria in Oregon. The Americans were 
unable to make headway in Canada; the English were 
equally unable to penetrate into the United States. 
Wellington was consulted, and reported that in his judg- 
_^ r ment the British could hope for no success 
American without naval superiority on the lakes. The 

e ence. brave resistance of the Americans at Fort 

Erie and Plattsburg had won the respect of the great 
military commander. The ministry, therefore, resolved 
upon peace. 

The first question to settle was that of territory. The 

British consented to restore the territory as it had been 

before the war ; some attempt was made to 

em ory, create a belt of frontier neutral territory for 
the Indians who had been allies of the British, but 
that point was also abandoned. Next came the ques- 
tion of the fisheries : the British held that 

IS enes. ^|^^ American rights had been lost by the 
war ; Clay insisted that the British right of navigation of 



220 The Union in Danger. t§§ii6, 117. 

the Mississippi had also been forfeited, and that the fish- 
eries might therefore be sacrificed as a " matter of trifling 
moment." Adams stood out for the fisheries, and the 
result was that neither question was mentioned in the 
treaty. In 18 r 8 a sjDecial convention was negotiated, 
defining the fishery rights of the United States. Upon 
The treaty these general lines agreement was at last 
signed. reached, and the treaty was signed Dec. 24, 

1814, several weeks before the battle of New Orleans. 

117. PoUtical Effects of the War (1815). 

After nearly three years of war, the expenditure of 
one hundred millions of dollars, the loss of about thirty 
No gain from thousand Hvcs, the destruction of property, 
the war g^j^^j ruinous losscs of American vessels, the 

country stood where it had stood in 1812, its boundary 
unchanged, its international rights still undefined, the 
people still divided. Yet peace brought a kind of national 
exaltation. The naval victories had been won by officers 
National and men from all parts of the Union, and be- 
pnde. longed to the nation. The last struggle on 

land, the battle of New Orleans, was an American vic- 
tory, and obliterated the memory of many defeats. 
President Madison, in his annual message of 18 15, con- 
gratulated the country that the treaty " terminated with 
peculiar felicity a campaign signalized by the most 
brilliant successes." 

One noteworthy effect of the war had been the devel- 
opment of a body of excellent young soldiers. Winfield 
Training of Scott distinguished himself in the Niagara 
soldiers. campaigns, and rose eventually to be the 

highest officer of the American army. William Henry 
Harrison's military reputation was based chiefly on the 
Indian battle of Tippecanoe in 181 1, but it made him 



1815.] Political Effects of the War. 221 

President in 1840. Andrew Jackson's victory at New 
Orleans brought him before the people, and caused his 
choice as President in 1828. The national pride was 
elated by the successes of American engineers, American 
naval architect^r^^merican commodores, and volunteer 
officers like Jacob Brown, who had finally come to the 
front. 

The end of the war marks also the withdrawal of the 
United States from the compHcations of European poli- 

Extrication ^^^^' ^^*^"^ ^11 S to I §15 the Country had been 
from European compelled, against its will, to take sides, to ask 
po itics. favors, and to suffer rebuffs abroad. During 

the long interval of European peace, from 1815 to 1853, 
the United States grew up without knowing this influence. 
Furthermore, the field was now clear for a new organiza- 
tion of American industries. The profits of the shipping 
trade had not been due so much to American enterprise 
as to the greater safety of foreign cargoes in neutral 
bottoms. When this advantage was swept away, Amer- 
ican shipping languished, and its place was taken by 
manufacturing. 

The most marked result of the war was the absorption 
of the Federalist Party, which at once began, and in five 
Decay of ^"^ ^^^ years was complete. In the election of 
the Feder- i8i2 eighty-nine votes had been cast for the 
a 1st party. Federalist candidate (§ 109); in 1816 there 
were but thirty-four (§ 123); in 1820 there was not one. 
This did not mean that Federalist principles had decayed 
or been overborne ; the real reason for the extinction of 
that party was that it lived in the ranks of the Repub- 
lican party. When Jefferson in 1801 said, "We are all 
Republicans, we are all Federahsts," he expressed what 
had come to be true in 18 15. The great principles for 
which the Federalists had striven were the right of the 
federal government to exercise adequate powers, and its 



222 The Union in Danga^ [§§ 117-119. 

duty to maintain the national dignity : those principles 
had been adopted by the Repubhcans. John Randolph 
„ . , was almost the only leader who continued to 

Persistence •' 

of_ Federalist stand by the Republican doctrine enunciated 
pnncip es. ^^ Jefferson when he became President. Jef- 
ferson himself had not scrupled to annex Louisiana, to 
lay the embargo, and to enforce it with a severity such 
as Hamilton would hardly have ventured on. Madison 
had twice received and used the power to discriminate be- 
tween the commerce of England and of France ; and dur- 
ing the war the nation had reimposed federal taxes and 
adopted Federahst principles of coercion. James Mon- 
roe, Secretary of State at the end of Madison's adminis- 
tration, and candidate for the Presidency in i8r6, was in 
his political beliefs not to be distinguished from moder- 
Gaininna- ^te FcderaHsts like James A. Bayard in 1800. 
tional spirit, 'pj-^g Union arose from the disasters of the 
War of 1 81 2 stronger than ever before, because the 
people had a larger national tradition and greater experi- 
ence of national government, and because they had ac- 
cepted the conception of government which Washington 
and Hamilton had sought to create. 



CHAPTER XL 

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC REORGANIZATION 
(1815-1824). 



118. References. 

Bibliographies. — W. E. Foster, References to Presidential 
Administrations^ 15-19; Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical 
History, VII. 344, 345, 437-439; J- F- Jameson, Bibliography of 
Monroe (Appendix to Oilman's Monroe) ; Channing and Hart, Guide, 
§§ 174-178. 

Historical Maps. — Nos. i and 5, this volume, and No. i, Wil- 
son, Division and Reunion {Epoch Maps Nos. 7, 8, and 10) ; Lab- 
berton, Atlas,\yi.\\\.\ T. Mz.cCovin, Historical Geography ; Scribiter, 
Statistical Atlas, Plate 14. 

General Accounts. — H. Von Hoist, Constitutional History, I. 
273-40S; R. Hildreth, United States. VI. 575-713 (to 1821); James 
Schouler, United States, II. 444-463 ; III. 1-335 ; Bryant and Gay, 
Popular History. IV. 244-281 ; J. B. McMaster, People of the United 
States, IV. (to 1820) ; Geo. Tucker, United States, III. 146-408 ; J. 
T . yiox%Q, John Quincy Adams, 102-164; Ormsby, Whig Parly, 
129-172. 

Special Histories. — Henry Adams, History of the United 
States, IX.; Carl Schurz, Henry Clay, I. 137-202; N. P. Gilman, 
James Monroe, 125-174 ; F. W. Taussig, Tariff History; J. L. 
Bishop, American Manufactures, II. 146-298; G. F. Tucker, Monroe 
Doctrine; Payne, European Colonies; E. Stan wood, Presidential 
Elections; H. L. Caison, Supreitie Court, I. chs. xii.-xiv. ; A. C. 
McLaughlin, Cass, chs. ii., iv. 

Contemporary Accounts. — J. Q. Adams, Memoirs, IV.-VI.; 
Josiah Quincy, Figures of the Past ; Niles Register ; T. H. Benton, 
Thirty Years' View, I. 1-44 ; Nathan Sargent, Public Men, and 
Events, I. 17-56; R, Rush, Residence at the Court of London ; J. 
Flint, Recollections of the last Ten Years (1826) ; R. Walsh, Appeal 
from the Judgment of Great Britain (1819); D. Warden, Statis- 
tical, Political, and Historical Account of the United States (1819); 
S. G. Goodrich, Recollections, II. 393-436; The National Intelli- 
gencer; Fearon, Sketches of America, Fifth Report ; works of Clay, 
Calhoun. Webster, Madison, Woodbury. — Reprints in F. W. Taussig, 
State Papers and Speeches on the Tariff ; Aynerican History told by 
Contemporaries, III. 

119. Conditions of National Growth (1815). 

The population of the United States at the end of the 
war was about eight million five hundred thousand, and 



224 Reorganization. [§"9 

it was increasing relatively faster in the South and West 
than near the seaboard. The return of peace seemed also 
a return of prosperity. Short crops abroad re- 
rospenty. ^j^g^ ^j^g demand for American cereals, so that 
the surplus accumulated during the war could be sold at 
fair prices, and the exports in 1816 ran up to $64,000,000. 
In 181 5, American shipping recovered almost to the point 
which it had reached in 1810. The revenue derived from 
taxation in 18 14 was but $11,000,000; in 181 6 it was 
$47,000,000. More than twenty thousand immigrants 
arrived in 181 7. Wealth seemed increasing both in the 
North and the South. 

Another evidence of the quickening of national life was 
the beginning of a new national literature. In 1815 was 
National founded the " North American Review,'' and 
literature. \y^-^ ^n early number appeared Bryant's "Than- 
atopsis." Already in 1809 had appeared the first work of 
an American which was comparable with that of the Brit- 
ish essayists, — Washington Irving's " Knickerbocker " 
History of New York. His quaint humor was not less 
appreciated from his good-natured allusions to the Jef- 
fersonian principle of government "by proclamation." 
The hold of the clers^y had been much weak- 

The cler'^'v 

ened in New England ; there had been a 
division of the Congregational Church, with the subse- 
quent founding of the Unitarian branch ; and the Jeffer- 
sonian principle of popular government was gaining 
ground. The people were keen and alert. 

In two respects the war had taught the Americans their 
own weakness : they had had poor facilities for trans- 
Means of portation, and they had lacked manufactures 
transpor- of military material. There was a widespread 
feeling that the means of intercommunication 
ought to be improved. The troops on the northern fron- 
tier had been badly provisioned and slowly reinforced 



i8i5.] Conditions of National Growth. 225 

because they could not readily be reached over the poor 

roads. A system had been invented which was suitable 

for the rapid-running rivers of the interior and for lake 

navigation; in 1807 Fulton made the first 

Steamboats. , , ^, , _, 

voyage by steam on the Hudson River. Nme 
years later a system of passenger service had been devel- 
oped in various directions from New York, and a steamer 
was running on the Mississippi, 

Manufactures had sprung up suddenly and unexpect- 
edly in the United States. The restrictive legislation 
Rise of man- froili 1806 to i8i2, though it had not cut off 
ufactures. foreign imports, had checked them ; and 
shrewd ship-owners had in some cases diverted their 
accumulated capital to the building of factories. In 
18 1 2 commerce with England was totally cut off, and im- 
portations from other countries were loaded down with 
double duties. This indirect protection was enough to 
cause the rise of many manufactures, particularly of 
cotton and woollen goods. In 181 5, the capital invested in 
these two branches of industry was probably 150,000,000. 
On the conclusion of peace in England and America an 
accumulated stock of English goods poured forth, and 
the imports of the United States instantly rose from 
$12,000,000 in 1814, to $106,000,000 in 1815. These im- 
Foreigncom- portations were out of proportion to the ex- 
petition, ports and to the needs of the country, and 
they caused the stoppage of a large number of American 
factories. Meanwhile, American ships had begun to 
feel the competition of foreign vessels in foreign trade. 
Without intending it, the country had drifted into a new 
set o'f economic conditions. 



IS 



226 Reorganization. [^§ 120, 121. 

120. The Second United States Bank (1816;. 

The first evidence of this change of feeling was a de- 
mand for the renewal of the bank which had been 
Banks and allowed to expire in 181 1 (§ no). The coun- 
currency. ^j-y \^^^ been thrown entirely upon banks char- 
tered by the States ; the pressure of the war had caused 
their suspension, and the currency and banking capital of 
the United States had thus been thrown into complete 
confusion. For example, the Farmers Exchange Bank 
of Gloucester, R. I., was started, with a capital of $3,000; 
accumulated deposits so that one of the directors was 
able to steal $760,000; and then it failed, with specie 
assets of $86.46. In 181 1 there were eighty-eight State 
banks; in 1816 there were two hundred and forty-six. 

Since the re-charter bill of 181 1 had failed by only one 
vote, Dallas, Secretary of the Treasury in 181 4, again pro- 
Bank bill posed a national bank. Congress accepted the 
of 1814. principle, but an amendment proposed by John 

C. Calhoun so altered the scheme that upon Dallas's 
advice Madison cast his first important veto against it 
on Jan. 30, 1815. What Dallas desired was a bank which 
would lend money to the government; what Congress 
planned was a bank which would furnish a currency 
based on specie. In the next session of Congress Madi 
The Bank SOU himself urged the creation of a bank, and 
^'^'^ this time Calhoun supported him. The Fed- 

eralists, headed by Daniel Webster, — remnants of the 
party which had established the first national bank, — 
voted against it on the general principle of factious oppo- 
sition. A small minority of the Republicans joined them, 
but it was passed without much difficulty, and became a 
law on April, 10, 181 6. 

The bank was modelled on its predecessor (§ 78), but 
the capital was increased from $10,000,000 to $35,000,000, 



i8i6, 1817.] National Bank, 227 

of which the United States government held $7,000,000. 
It was especially provided that "the deposits of the 
Bank moiiey of the United States shall be made in 

charter. g^jfj bank or branches thereof." In return 

for its special privileges the bank agreed to pay to the 
government $1,500,000. The capital was larger than 
could safely be employed ; it was probably intended 
to absorb bank capital from the State banks. The pros- 
perity of the country, aided by the operations of the bank, 
secured the renewal of specie payments by all the sound 
banks in the country on Feb. 20, 181 7. 

The striking feature in the bank was not that it should 
be established, but that it should be accepted by old 
, Repubhcans like Madison, who had found the 

Loose con- ^ 

struction charter of a bank in 1791 a gross perversion 
accepted. ^^ ^^^ Constitution. Even Henry Clay, who 
in 181 1 had powerfully contributed to the defeat of the 
bank, now came forward as its champion. 



121. Internal Improvements (1806-1817). 

Side by side with the bank bill went a proposition for 
aa entirely new application of the government funds. Up 
Local im- to this time internal improvements — roads, 
provements. canals, and river and harbor improvements — 
had been made by the States, so far as they were made 
at all. Virginia and Maryland had spent considerable 
sums in an attempt to make the Potomac navigable, and 
a few canals had been constructed by private capital, 
sometimes aided by State credit. In 1806 the United 
Cumber- States began the Cumberland Road, its first 
land road. work of the kind ; but it was intended to open 
up the public lands in Ohio and the country west, and 
was nominally paid for out of the proceeds of those pub- 
lic lands. lust as the embargo policy was taking effect, 



228 Reorgaiiizatiorc. [§§ 121, 122. 

Gallatin, encouraged by the accumulation of a surplus in 
the Treasury, brought in a report, April 4, 1808, suggest- 
Gaiiatin's i^g the construction of a great system of in- 
scheme, tcmal improvements : it was to include coast- 

wise canals across the isthmuses of Cape Cod, New 
Jersey, upper Delaware and eastern North Carolina; 
roads were to be constructed from Maine to Georgia, 
and thence to New Orleans, and from Washington west- 
ward to Detroit and St. Louis. He estimated the cost at 
twenty millions, to be provided in ten annual instalments. 
Jefferson himself was so carried away with this prospect 
of public improvement that he recommended a constitu- 
tional amendment to authorize such expenditures. The 
whole scheme disappeared when the surplus vanished ; 
but from year to year small appropriations were made 
for the Cumberland road, so that up to 181 2 more than 
$200,000 had been expended upon it. 

The passage of the bank bill in 18 16 was to give the 
United States a million and a half of dollars (§ 120). 
Calhoun's Calhoun, therefore, came forward, Dec. 23, 
Bonus Bill. igj5^ ^j^i^ a^ i^iii proposing that this sum be 
employed as a fund "for constructing roads and canals 
and improving the navigation of watercourses." "We 
are " said he, "a rapidly — I was about to say a fearfully 
— growing country. . . . This is our pride and danger, 
our weakness and our strength." The constitutional 
question he settled with a phrase : " If we are restricted 
in the use of our money to the enumerated powers, on 
what principle can the purchase of Louisiana be justi- 
fied ? " The bill passed the House by eighty-six to eighty- 
four ; it was strongly supported by New York members, 
because it was expected that the general government 
would begin the construction of a canal from Albany to 
the Lakes ; it had also large support in the South, espe- 
cially in South Carolina. In the last hours of his admin^ 



iSo6-i8i8.] Internal Improvements. 229 

istration IMadison vetoed it. His message shows that 
he had selected this occasion to leave to the people a 
Madison's political testament ; he was at last alarmed by 
veto. the progress of his own party, and, like Jeffer- 

son, he insisted that internal improvements were desirable, 
but needed a constitutional amendment. The immediate 
effect of the veto was that New York, seeing no prospect 
of federal aid, at once herself began the construction of 
the Erie Canal, which was opened eight years later. 
State im- Other States attempted like enterprises ; but 
provements the passes behind the Susquehanna and Poto- 
mac rivers were too high, and no permanent water way 
was ever finished over them. 



122. The First Protective Tariff (1816). 

The protection controversy had hardly appeared in 
Congress since the memorable debate of 1789 (§ j6). 
Increase From time to time the duties had been slightly 
of duties. increased, and in 1799 a general administra- 
tive tariff act had been passed. The wars with the 
Barbary powers had necessitated a slight increase of the 
duties, known as the Mediterranean Fund, and this had 
been allowed to stand. Up to the doubling of the duties 
in 1 81 2 the average rate on staple imports was only from 
ten to fifteen per cent, and the maximum was about 
thirty per cent. The whole theory of the Republican 
administration had been that finance consisted in decid- 
Jefferson's i"g upon the necessary expenses of govern- 
attitude. ment, and then in providing the taxes necessary 
to meet them. This theory had been disturbed by the 
existence of a debt which Jefferson was eager to extin- 
guish ; and he therefore permitted the duties to remain 
at a point where they produced much more than the 
ordinary expenditure of the government. 



230 Reorganization. [§§ 122, 123. 

A change had now come over the country. The inci- 
dental protection afforded by the increase of duties, and 
The manu- then by the war, had built up manufactures, 
facturers. ^ot only in New England, but in New York 
and Pennsylvania. In these strongholds of capital and 
trade there was a cry for higher duties, and it was much 
enforced by the attitude of the Western members. There 
were a few staple crops, particularly hemp and 
flax, which could not be produced in the face 
of foreign competition, and for which Western States 
were supposed to be adapted. Hence a double influence 
was at work in behalf of a protective tariff: the estab- 
lished industries pleaded for a continuance of the high 
duties which had given them an opportunity to rise ; and 
the friends of young industries asked for new duties, in 
order that their enterprises might be established. 

Accordingly, in February, 1816, Secretary Dallas made 
an elaborate report in favor of protective duties. John 
Dallas's Randolph, wlio still posed as the defender of 

tariff bill. the Original Republican doctrine, protested. 
" The agriculturist," said he, " has his property, his lands, 
his all, his household gods to defend ; " and he pointed out 
what was afterward to become the most effec- 
pponen s. ^.^^ argument against the tariff : " Upon whom 
bears the duty on coarse woollens and linens and blankets, 
upon salt and all the necessaries of life .? Upon poor 
men and upon slaveholders." Webster, representing the 
commercial interest of New England, decidedly opposed 
the tariff, especially the minimum principle, and succeeded 
in obtaining a slight reduction. One of the strongest 
defenders of the tariff was Calhoun. Manufactures, he 
declared, produced an interest strictly Amer- 
ican, and calculated to bind the widespread 
republic more closely together. The chief supporter of 
the system was Henry Clay of Kentucky, the Speaker of 



1812-1S24.] Tariff of I'^iG. 231 

the House. His argument was that the country ought 
to be able to defend itself in time of war. It was not 
expected at this time that a protective tariff would 
become permanent. In a few years, said a committee 
of the House, the country would be in a condition to bid 
defiance to foreign competition. 

The act as passed April 27, 18 16, had favorable votes 
in every State in the Union except Delaware and North 
Protective Carolina. The opposition was strong in the 
policy. South and in New England. Madison signed 

the bill and accepted the pohcy, and even Jefferson 
declared that "We must now place the manufacturer by 
the side of the agriculturist." The act imposed duties 
of twenty-five per cent upon cotton and woollen goods, 
and the highest ad valorem duty was about thirty per 
cent. In addition, no duty was to be less than six and a 
quarter cents a yard on cottons and woollens : hence as 
improvements in machinery caused a rapid lowering of 
the cost of production abroad, the duty grew heavier on 
The mi- coarse goods, in proportion to their value, till it 
mmum. ^^g almost prohibitory. The act was accepted 

without any popular demonstrations against it, and re- 
mained in force, with some unimportant modifications, 
until 1824. One purpose undoubtedly was to show to 
foreign governments that the United States could dis- 
criminate against their trade if they discriminated against 
ours. 

123. Monroe's Administration (1817-1825). 

The election of 1816 proved that the Federalists could 
no longer keep up a national organization. They were 
Monroe's succcssful Only in Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
election. ^nd Delaware. On March 4, 1817, therefore, 

James Monroe took his seat as the President of a well- 
united people. Although he had been the friend and 



232 Reorganization . [§§ 1 23, 1 24. 

candidate of Randolph, he represented substantially the 

same principles as Jefferson and Madison. His cabinet 

was the ablest since Washington's : he gathered about 

him four of the most distinguished public men 
The cabinet. .,, , tt-*- ^ ro^^ 

in the country. His Secretary of State was 
John Quincy Adams, one of the negotiators of the treaty 
of Ghent. His Secretary of the Treasury was William 
H. Crawford of Georgia, who had shown financial ability 
in Congress and in Madison's cabinet. For Secretary 
of War he chose John C. Calhoun, who had in the six 
years of his national public service become renowned as 
an active and almost a passionate advocate of the use of 
large national powers. His Attorney-General was William 
Wirt of Virginia. 

These young men represented an eager policy, and in 
their national principles had advanced far beyond the old 
p^j.f Federalists ; but the people had been some- 

strength, what startled by the boldness of the preceding 
Congress, and many of the members who would have 
agreed with the President had lost their seats. Through- 
out the whole administration Jefferson at Monticello, and 
Madison at Montpelier, remained in dignified retirement; 
from time to time Monroe asked their advice on great 
public questions. 

One of the first tasks of the administration was to re- 
store the commercial relations which had been so dis- 
Commercial turbed by the Napoleonic wars. Algiers had 
treaties. taken advantage of the War of 181 2 to capture 

American vessels. In 1815 the Dey was compelled on 
the quarter-deck of Decatur's ship to sign a treaty of 
peace and amity. All our commercial treaties had dis- 
appeared in the war, and had to be painfully renewed. In 
1815 a commercial convention was made with Great 
Britain, and in 1818 the fishery privileges of the United 
States were reaffirmed. The West India trade was still 



1817-1822.] Motiroe's Policy. 233 

denied, but a retaliatory act brought Great Britain to 
terms, and it was opened in 1822. 



124. Territorial Extension (1805-1819). 

The administration inherited two serious boundary 
controversies, one with England, and another with Spain. 
Northern Some progress had been made toward running 
boundary. the northeast boundary, till in 18 18 the com- 
missioners disagreed. The northwest boundary had now 
come to be more important. A few months before the 
annexation of Louisiana, Jefferson had sent 
^^^^'^' an expedition to explore the country drained 

by the Columbia River, which had been discovered by a 
Boston ship in 1791. This expedition, under Lewis and 
Clark, in 1805 reached tributaries of the Columbia and 
descended it to its mouth, anticipating a similar English 
expedition. Nevertheless, the Hudson's Bay Company 
established trading-posts in the region. Monroe settled 
the difficulty for the time being by a treaty with Great 
Britain in 181 8, providing that the disputed region lying 
Boundary between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific 
treaty. Ocean and extending indefinitely northward 

should be jointly occupied by both countries. At the 
same time the northern boundary was defined from the 
Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains. 

A year later another treaty with Spain gave to the 
United States a region which Jefferson had longed for in 
vain. Ever since 1803 the United States had 
West Florida, ^^gerted that West Florida had come to it as 
a part of Louisiana (§ 99). Spain steadfastly refused 
to admit this construction or to sell the province. In 1810 
Madison by proclamation took possession of the disputed 
region, and a part of it was soon after added to Louisiana. 
East Florida could not possibly be included within Lou- 



234 Reorganization. [§§124,125. 

isiana, but as a detached peninsula it was of little value 
to Spain. John Quincy Adams now undertook a nego- 
Spanish tiation for the settlement of all outstanding 

treaty. difficulties with Spain, and on Feb. 22, 1819, 

a treaty was signed : East Florida was ceded for a pay- 
ment of about $6,500,000, and at the same time the 
western boundary of Louisiana was settled. An irregular 
line was described from the Gulf to the forty-second par- 
allel ; it was not far distant from the watershed south and 
west of the tributaries of the Mississippi. Then came 
the triumph of the whole negotiation: Adams obtained 
from Spain a renunciation of all claims north of the forty- 
second parallel, as far west as the Pacific. Our hold 
upon Oregon was thus much strengthened. 

125. Judicial Decisions (1812-1824). 

Two departments of the federal government had now 

shown their belief that the United States was a nation 

which ought to exercise national powers. 

evvju ges. -^^^ ^^^ ;|. stand with the judiciary depart- 
ment? Of the judges of the Supreme Court appointed 
by Washington and Adams but two remained in office 
in 1817; but the new justices, as they were appointed, 
quietly accepted the constitutional principles laid down 
by Marshall, their Chief Justice and leader. Among them 
was Joseph Story of Massachusetts, whose mastery of 
legal reasoning and power of statement gave him unusual 
influence. After the Marbury case in 1803 (§ 96) the 
Court refrained for some years from delivering decisions 
Authority which involved important political questions, 
asserted. jj^ 1809, however, it sustained Judge Peters of 

the Pennsylvania District Court in a struggle for author- 
ity against the governor and legislature of that State 
(§ no). The courts were victorious, and the commander 



iS 1 2- 1 824-] Judicial Decisions. 235 

of the militia, who had opposed them with armed force, 
was punished. 

The legislation of 18 15 and 1816 showed to the Court 
that its view of the Constitution was accepted by the 
people ; and it now began a series of great constitutional 
Appeals decisions, which put on record as legal prece- 

taken. dcnts the doctrines of implied powers and of 

national sovereignty. In the great cases of Martin vs. 
Hunter's Lessee, and Cohens vs. Virginia, in 1816 and 
1821, it asserted the right of the Supreme Court to 
take cases on appeal from the State courts, and thus 
to make itself the final tribunal in constitutional ques- 
tions. x\t about the same time, in two famous cases, 
McCullough vs. Maryland in 1819, and Osborn et al. vs. 
Bank of the United States in 1824, the doctrine of im- 
im lied P^ed powers was stated in the most definite 

powers manner. Both cases arose out of the attempt 

affirmed. ^^ States to tax the United States Bank, and 
the final issue was the power of Congress to charter such 
a bank. The doctrine laid down by Hamilton in 1791 
(§ 78) was reaffirmed in most positive terms. " A national 
bank," said Marshall, " is an appropriate means to carry 
out some of the implied powers, a usual and convenient 
agent. . . . Let the end be within the scope of the Constitu- 
tion, and all means which are . . . plainly adapted to that 
end, which are not prohibited, . . . but consistent with the 
letter and spirit of the Constitution, are constitutional." 
Although the tariff act was not tested by a specific case, 
the spirit of the decision reached it also. 

Having thus asserted the authority of the nation on 
one side, the Court proceeded to draw the boundary of 
State pow- the powers of the States on the other side. In 
ers limited. ^ question arising out of grants of land by 
the Georgia legislature in the Yazoo district, it had been 
claimed that any such grant could be withdrawn by a 



236 Reorganization. [§§ 125, 126, 

subsequent legislature. The Court held in Fletcher vs. 
Peck, in 1810, that such a withdrawal was in contraven- 
tion of the constitutional clause which forbade the States 
to impair the obligation of contracts. In 18 19, in the 
celebrated case of Dartmouth College vs. Woodward, 
this principle was pushed to an unexpected conclusion. 
The legislature of New Hampshire had passed an act 
modifying a charter granted in colonial times to Dart- 
impairment rnouth College. Webster, as counsel for the 
of contracts. Board of Trustees which had thus been dis- 
possessed, pleaded that a charter granted to a corporation 
was a contract which could not be altered without its con- 
sent. Much indirect argument was brought to bear upon 
Marshall, and eventually the Court held that private char- 
ters were contracts. The effect of this decision was to 
diminish the power and prestige of the State governments ; 
but the general sentiment of the country sustained it. So 
united did all factions now seem in one theory of national 
existence that in the election of 1820 Monroe received 
every vote but one. 

126. The Slavery Question revived (1815-1820). 

Out of this peace and concord suddenly sprang up, as 
Jefferson said, "like a nre-bell in the night," a question 
Silent growth which had silently divided the Union, and 
ofslavery. threatened to dissolve it. It was the question 
of slavery. During the whole course of the Napoleonic 
wars the country had been occupied in the defence of 
its neutral trade; since 181 5 it had been busy in re- 
organizing its commercial and political system. During 
this time, however, four new States had been admitted 
into the Union : of these, two — Ohio and Indiana — came 
in with constitutions prohibiting slavery ; two — Louisi- 
ana and Mississippi — had slaves. This balance was not 



1815-1820.] Slavery Question revived. 237 

accidental ; it was arranged so as to preserve a like bal- 
ance in the Senate. 

The movement against slavery had by no means 
spent itself: there were still emancipation societies both 
Slavery North and South. In 1794 Jay appeared to 

profitable. suppose that cotton was not an American ex- 
port (§ 85) ; but since the invention of the cotton-gin 
in 1793 the cultivation of cotton by slave labor had 
grown more and more profitable, and in 1820 that export 
was valued at nearly twenty millions. The planters of the 
northern belt of slaveholding States did not share in this 
culture, but they found an increasing sale for their surplus 
Slave-trade blacks to their Southern neighbors ; they had, 
forbidden. therefore, joined with members from the North- 
ern States in the act of March 2, 1807, to prohibit the 
importation of slaves. The act was insufficient, inasmuch 
as the punishment provided was slight, and slaves cap- 
tured while in course of illegal importation were sold for 
the benefit of the States into which they were brought. 
In 1820 the slave-trade was made piracy, so that the 
nominal penalty was death. 

One evidence of the uneasiness of the country on the 
slavery question was the formation of the American Colo- 
Schemes of nization Society in 1816. Its purpose was to 
colonization, encourage emancipation, and thus to reduce 
the evils of slavery, by drawing off the free blacks and 
colonizing them in Africa. It had a large membership 
throughout the country ; James Madison and Henry 
Clay were among its presidents. Some States made 
grants of money in its aid, and after 18 19 the United 
States assisted it by sending to the African colony slaves 
captured while in course of illegal importation. The 
whole scheme was but a palliative, and in fact rather 
tended to strengthen slavery, by taking away the disquiet- 
ing presence of free blacks among the slaves. The So- 



238 Reorganir^atiott. [§§ 126, 127, 

ciety, however, never had the means to draw away enough 
negroes sensibly to affect the problem ; the number 
which they exported was replaced many times over by 
illegal importations from Africa. 

In two other directions the nation had power over 
slavery, but declined to exercise it. The Fugitive Slave 
Fugitive ^ct (§ 79) was found to be ineffective. From 
slaves. 1 81 8 to 1 822 three bills to strengthen it were 

introduced and strongly pressed, but nothing could be 
accomplished. In the District of Columbia, where the 
District of United States had complete legislative power, 
Columbia. slavery existed under a very harsh code. 
Washington was a centre for the interstate slave-trade, 
and John Randolph, himself a slaveholder, could not re- 
strain his indignation that " we should have here in the 
very streets of our metropolis a depot for this nefarious 
traffic ; " but Congress took no action. 

A question had now arisen which must be decided. 
The whole of the Louisiana cession was slaveholding ter- 
Status of ritory, and settlers had gone up the Mississippi 
Louisiana. River and its western tributaries with their 
slaves. In 1 819 it was found necessary to provide a ter- 
ritorial government for Arkansas ; and the people living 
about the Missouri River applied to be admitted as a 
State with a slaveholding constitution. 



127. The Missouri Compromises (1818-1821). 

The first step in the great slavery contest was a bill 
introduced into the House in December, 181 8, providing 
Arkansas ^ territorial government for Arkansas. Taylor 
debate. of New York proposed that slavery be prohib- 

ited in the Territory; McLane of Delaware suggested 
the "fixing of a line on the west of the Mississippi, north 
of which slavery should not be tolerated." The test vote 



xS 18-1821] Misscmri Questiotu 239 

on the exclusion of slaver}^ was a tie, and Clay, as Speaker, 
cast bis vote against it. The new Territory lay west of 
the Mississippi, and adjacent to Louisiana. The North- 
ern members were, therefore, not disposed to make the 
issue at that point, and on March 2, 18 19, an Act was 
passed organizing Arkansas, with no mention of slavery. 
Meanwhile, Illinois had been admitted, making eleven 
free States. 

Side by side with this debate had proceeded a discus- 
sion on the admission of Missouri as a State. On Feb. 
13, 1819, Talmadge of New York proposed as 
restriction an amendment "that the further introduction 
on issoun. ^£ g^g^ygj-y q^- involuntary servitude be prohib- 
ited, . . . and that all children of slaves born within 
the said State after the admission thereof into the Union 
shall be free." Missouri lay west of Illinois, which had 
just been admitted into the Union as a Free State ; the 
Northern members, therefore, rallied, and passed the Tal- 
madge amendment by a vote of eighty-seven to seventy- 
six. The Senate, by a vote of twenty-two to sixteen, 
refused to accept the amendment ; there was no time for 
an adjustment, and Congress adjourned without action. 

During 1819 the question was discussed throughout 

the Union. Several legislatures, by unanimous votes, 

protested against admitting a new Slave State, 

Missouri bill. j i ^i /- 1.1 j • 

and when the new Congress assembled in 
1819 it became the principal issue of the session. Ala- 
bama was at once admitted, restoring the balance of Slave 
and Free States. The people of Maine were now alx)ut 
to separate from Massachusetts, and also petitioned for 

entrance into the Union. A bill for this pur- 

Maiiiebill. i ^1 tt t-. 1 ^ 

pose passed the House on December 30, and 
a month later a bill for the admission of Missouri, with 
the Talmadge amendment, was also introduced into the 
House. The Senate, on Feb. 16, 1820, voted to admit 



240 Reorgajii.i;ation. [§§127,128. 

Maine, i^rovided Missouri was at the same time admitted 
as a Slave State. The House still refused to comply. 
Thomas of Illinois now proposed as a compromise the 
principle suggested by McLane a year earlier, — that an 
Compro- east and west line be drawn across the Louisi- 
imse line. ^j^^ cession, north of which slavery should be 
prohibited. Fourteen Northern members united with the 
seventy-six Southern members to form a bare majority 
against prohibiting slavery in Missouri ; the principle was 
thus abandoned, and the only question was where the line 
should be drawn : the parallel of 36° 30' was selected, 
but it was expressly provided that Missouri should be 
slaveholding. On March 3 the compromise became 
a law. 

A year later a third difficulty arose. The people of Mis- 
souri had formed a constitution which provided that free 
Missouri colored men should not be allowed to enter 
constitution, the State Under any pretext. Nearly the whole 
Northern vote in the House was cast against admitting the 
State with this provision. Clay brought about a compro- 
mise by which the Missourians were to agree not to de- 
prive of his rights any citizen of another State. Upon 
this understanding Missouri was finally admitted. 

In form the compromises were a settlement of difficul- 
ties between the two Houses ; in fact they were an agree- 
PViends of mcnt between the two sections, by which the 
disunion. future of slavcry in every part of the Louisiana 
purchase was to be settled once for all. Threats were 
freely made that if slavery were prohibited in Missouri, 
the South would withdraw. Calhoun told Adams that if 
the trouble produced a dissolution of the Union, "the 
South would be from necessity compelled to form an 
alliance, offensive and defensive; with Great Britain." 
Adams retorted by asking whether, in such a case, if 
" the population of the North should be cut off from its 



iS2o, 1821.] Missouri Compromise. 241 

natural outlet upon the ocean, it would fall back upon its 
rocks bound hand and foot to starve, or whether it would 
not retain its powers of locomotion to move southward 
by land ?" The compromise was, as Benton says, '* con- 
Advantage to ceived and passed as a Southern measure," 
the South. although Randolph called it a " dirty bar- 
gain ; " nevertheless, on the final test vote thirty-five 
Southern members refused to admit the principle that 
Congress could prohibit slavery in the Territories. The 
South gained Missouri, and a few years later Arkansas 
came in as a slave State ; but in the long run the advan- 
tage was to the North. The South got the small end of the 
Advantage to triangle ; the North the whole region now 
the North. occupied by the States of Kansas, Nebraska, 
Iowa, the Dakotas, and Montana, and parts of Colorado, 
Wyoming, and Minnesota ; and the final struggle over 
slavery w^as postponed for thirty years. 



128. Relations with the Latin- American States (1815-1823). 

While the attention of the country was absorbed by 
the Missouri struggle, a new question of diplomacy had 
The Spanish arisen. In 1789 almost every part of the two 
colonies. American continents south of the United 
States, except Brazil, was subject to Spain. The Ameri- 
can Revolution had given a shock to the principle of 
colonial government by European powers ; the Span- 
ish colonies refused to acknowledge the authority of the 
French usurpers in Spain, and in 1808 a series of revolts 
occurred. At the restoration of the Spanish 
Revolutions. gQ^j-bons in 1814, the colonies returned to 
nominal allegiance. The new king attempted to intro- 
duce the old regime : the colonies had too long enjoyed 
the sweets of direct trade with other countries, and they 
resented the ungentle attempts to restore them to com- 
16 



242 Reorganization. [§§ 128, 129. 

plete dependence; between 1816 and 1820 the provinces 
on the Rio de la Plata, Chile, and Venezuela again re- 
volted ; and by 1822 there was a revolutionary government 
in every continental Spanish province, including Mexico. 

When Europe was reorganized, after the fall of Napo- 
leon, almost all the powers entered into a kind of a treaty, 
The Holy known as the Holy Alliance, framed Sept. 26, 
Alliance. 1815. They announced the future principle 

of international relations to be that of " doing each other 
reciprocal service, and of testifying by unalterable good 
will the mutual affection with which they ought to be 
animated," and that they considered themselves "all as 
members of one and the same Christian nation." Within 
this pious verbiage was concealed a plan of mutual as- 
sistance in case of the outbreak of revolutions. When 
Intervention Spain revolted against her sovereign in 1820, 
proposed. ^ European Congress was held, and by its 
direction the French in 1823 a second time restored the 
Spanish Bourbons. The grateful king insisted that the 
revolution of the Spanish colonies ought to be put down 
by a common effort of the European powers, as a danger 
to the principle of hereditary government. 

Here the interests of the United States became in- 
volved : they were trading freely with the Spanish Amer- 
American icans ; they sympathized with the new govern- 
intercsts. ments, which were nominally founded on the 
model of the North American republic; they felt what 
now seems an unreasonable fear that European powers 
would invade the United States. At the same time the 
Russians, who had obtained a foothold on the northwest 
Russian coast fifty years earlier, were attempting to 

colonization, establish a permanent colony, and on Sept. 
24, 1821, issued a ukase forbidding all foreigners to trade 
on the Pacific coast north of the fifty-first parallel, or to 
approach within one hundred Itahan miles of the shore. 



1 815-1823.] • Monroe Doctrine. 243 

John Quincy Adams, who had a quick eye for national 
rights, protested vigorously. Now came most gratifying 
evidence that the United States was the leading power 
English in America: in September, 1823, the British 

proposals. government proposed to our minister in Eng- 
land that the two countries should unite in a declaration 
against European intervention in the colonies. The in- 
vitation was declined, but the good will of Great Britain 
was assured. 



129. The Monroe Doctrine (1823). 

John Quincy Adams had succeeded in bringing the 
President to the point where he was wiUing, in behalf 
Monroe's o^ the nation, to make a protest against both 
message. these forms of interference in American af- 
fairs. When Congress met, in December, 1823, Monroe 
sent in a message embodying what is popularly called the 
Monroe Doctrine. He had taken the advice of Jefferson, 
who declared that one of the maxims of American pohcy 
was " never to suffer Europe to meddle with cis-Atlantic 
affairs." Madison, with characteristic caution, suggested 
an agreement with Great Britain to unite in "armed dis- 
approbation." In the cabinet meeting, Adams pointed 
out that intervention would result, not in restoring the 
colonies to Spain, but in dividing them among European 
nations, in which case Russia might take California. His 
Coloniza- vicws prevailed, and the message contained, 
tion clause. \^ ^\-^^ ^^^^ place, a clause directed against 
Russia : " The American continents, by the free and in- 
dependent condition which they have assumed and main- 
tained, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for 
future colonization by any European powers." Against 
intervention there was even a stronger protest : " With 
the governments who have declared their independence and 



244 Rcorga7iizatio7i. [§§ 129-131. 

maintained it, . . . we could not view any interposition 
for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlhng in any 
interven- Other manner their destiny, by any European 
tion clause, power, in any other hght than as a manifes- 
tation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United 
States." 

In every way this dignified protest was effectual : the 
news caused an immediate rise in the funds of the re- 
volted States in European markets ; projects 

^^*' of European intervention were at once aban- 

doned ; and Great Britain followed the United States in 
recognizing the independence of the new countries. In 
1824 Russia made a treaty agreeing to claim no territory 
south of 54° 40', and not to disturb or restrain citizens of 
the United States in any part of the Pacific Ocean. 

When Monroe retired from the Presidency on March 4, 
1825, the internal authority of the national government 
had for ten years steadily increased, and the dignity and 
influence of the nation abroad showed that it had become 
one of the world's great powers. 



1824.] Politics. 245 



CHAPTER XII. 

ELEMENTS OF POLITICAL REORGANIZATION 
(1824-1829). 



130. References. 

Bibliographies. — W. E. Foster, References to Presidejttial 
Administrations^ 20-22; Justin Winsor, Narrative and Critical His- 
tory^ Vll. 346-34S ; Channing and Hart, Guide ^ §§ 179-180. 

Historical Maps. — No. 5, this volume {Epoch Maps, No. 10); 
Scribner''s Statistical Atlas, Plates 14, 15; school histories of Chan- 
ning and Johnston. 

General Accounts. — H. Von Hoist, Constitutional History, I. 
409-458 ; James Schouler, United States, HI. 336-450 ; Geo. Tucker, 
United States, III. 409-515. 

Special Histories. — Josiah Quincy, Life of John Qiiincy 
Adatns, chap. vii. ; J. T. Morse, /<7/iw Quincy Adams., 164-225; 
W. H. Seward, Life of John Qnincy Adams, 137-201 ; C. Schurz, 
Henry Clay, I. 203-310-, W. G. Sumner, Andrew Jackson, 73-135 ; 
E. M. Shepard, Martin Van Bnrcn, 84-150; H. C. Lodge, Daniel 
Webster, 129-171; J. L. Bishop, History of American Manufac- 
tures, II. 298-332. 

Contemporary Accounts. — J, Q. Adams, Memoirs, VII., 
VIII. (chapter xiv.); H. Niles, Weekly Register ; T. H. Benton, 
Thirty Years' View, I. 44-118 ; Josiah Quincy, Figures of the Past ; 
N. Sargent, Public Men and Events, I. 56-160 ; Ben Perley Poore, 
Perley^s Reminiscejtces, 1-S7; John Trumbull, Autobiography ; J. 
French, Travels; Mrs. TroWo-p^, Domestic Matiners of the Ameri- 
cans. — Reprints in American History told by Contemporaries, HI. 

131. Political Methods in 1824. 

The United States was in 1825 half a century old, and 
the primitive political methods of the early republic were 
Old states- disappearing. Most of the group of Revoiu- 
mengone. tionary statesmen were dead; Jefferson and 
John Adams still survived, and honored each other by 
renewing their ancient friendship; on July 4, 1826, they 
too passed away. The stately traditions of the colonial 
period were gone : since the accession of Jefferson, the 



246 Political Development. [§§ 131, 132. 

Presidents no longer rode in pomp to address Congress 
at the beginning of each session ; and inferior and Httle- 
known men crept into Congress. 

The constitutions framed during or immediately after 
the Revolution had been found too narrow, and one after 
New con- another, most of the States in the Union had 
stitutions. adopted a second, or even a third. Each change 
was marked by a popularization of the government, es- 
pecially with regard to the suffrage. Immigrants had 
begun to have a sensible effect upon the community. 
In 1825 there were ten thousand, and the number 
more than doubled in five years. These changes were 
reflected in the management of State politics; the 
greater the number of voters, the greater the power of 
organization. Hence there had sprung up in the States 
a system of political chiefs, of whom Aaron Burr is a 
type. 

Three new political devices had now become general 
among the States. The first was the removal of admin- 
Politicai istrative officers because they did not agree in 
proscription, politics with the party which had elected a 
governor. This system was in use in Pennsylvania as 
early as 1790; it was introduced into New York by 1800, 
and gradually spread into other States. At first it was 
rather a factional weapon : when the adherents of the 
Livingstons got into power, they removed the friends of 
the Clintons ; when the Clintonians came in, they turned 
out the Livingstons. Later, it was a recognized party 
system. In 1820 Secretary Crawford secured the pas- 
sage by Congress of an apparently innocent act, by which 
Four Years' most of the officers of the national government 
Tenure Act. y^\^Q collected and disbursed public money were 
to have terms of four years. The ostensible object was 
to secure more regular statements of accounts ; it was 
intended and used to drop from the public service subor- 



f 816-1824 ] Political Methods. 247 

dinates of the Treasury department who were not favor- 
able to Crawford's Presidential aspirations. 

The second device appears to have been the mvention 
of Elbridge Gerry, when governor of Massachusetts in 
The Gerry- i8i2, and from him it takes the name of Ger- 
mander, rymander. The Federalists were gaining in 
the State ; the Republican legislature, before it went 
out, therefore redistricted the State in such fashion that 
the Republicans with a minority of votes were able to 
choose twenty-nine senators, against eleven Federalists. 
No wonder that the " New England Palladium " declared 
this to be "contrary to republicanism and to justice." 

A third and very effective political device was the 
caucus. The term was applied particularly to a confer- 
ence of the members of each party in Congress, which 
had taken upon itself the nomination of the Presidents. 
Political The influence of the extending suffrage, and 

organization. Qf political tdcks and devices, had as yet little 
effect in national politics. It was evident, however, that 
the principles of political manipulation could be applied 
in national elections. The Republican party of New York 
was in 1825 managed by a knot of politicians called the 
Albany Regency. Of these, the ablest was Martin Van 
Buren, and four years later he succeeded in building up a 
national political machine. 

132. The Tariff of 1824 (1816-1824). 

An evidence of political uneasiness was the Tariff Act 
of May 22, 1824. The tariff of 18 16 had not brought 
Effect of about the good that was expected of it : im- 
the tariff. portations of foreign goods were indeed cut 
down from $129,000,000 in 1816 to $50,000,000 in 1823; 
but the balance of trade was still rather against the 
United States, and in 1819 there was a financial crisis. 



248 Political Development. [§§ 132, 133. 

In 1820 an act to raise the duties passed the House, but 
was lost in the Senate by a single vote. Manufactures 
had been growing, although profits were not large, and 
public sentiment was beginning to change in New Eng- 
land. The Western vote was now larger than eight years 
earlier, and was in favor of protection. Exports of 
agricultural products had fallen off, and the agricul- 
tural States hoped to find a better market among the 
manufacturers. 

It was a favorable time for a tariff act, inasmuch as the 
friends of none of the Presidential candidates were will- 
ing to commit themselves against it. Clay 
^ ° ^ ^^' came forward as the champion of the protec- 
tive system : " The object of this bill," said he, " is to 
create thus a home market, and to lay the foundation of 
a genuine American pohcy." The South now strongly 
and almost unanimously opposed the tariff ; even Webster 
spoke against it, declaring " freedom of trade to be the 
general principle, and restriction the exception." A 
combination of the Middle and Western States with a 
part of New England furnished the necessary majority. 
The tariff increased the duties on metals like iron and 
lead, and on agricultural products like wool and hemp, 
but gave little additional protection to woollen and cotton 
goods. As the bill approached its passage, John Ran- 
dolph violently protested : " There never was a constitu- 
tion under the sun in which by an unwise exercise of the 
powers of the government the people may not be driven 
to the extremity of resistance by force." 



133. The Slection of 1824. 

The ground was now cleared for the choice of a 
successor to Monroe. The Federalist organization had 
entirely disappeared, even in the New England States ; 



1819-1824.] Tariff. 249 

all the candidates called themselves Republicans or 
Democrats, — the terms were considered synonymous, — 
Era of good and there was little difference in their politi- 
feehng. ^^ principles. The second administration of 

Monroe has been called the " Era of Good Feeling," 
because there was but one party ; in fact it was an era 
of ill feeling, because that party was broken up into per- 
sonal factions. Three of the cabinet ministers and the 
Presidential Speaker of the House of Representatives were 
candidates, candidates for the succession to Monroe. Cal- 
houn, Secretary of War, who still believed that it was 
to the interest of the nation and of the South to have 
a strong national government, came forward early, but 
quietly accepted an undisputed nomination for the Vice- 
Presidency. John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State, 
was nominated by New England legislatures early in the 
year 1824. William H. Crawford of Georgia, Secretary 
of the Treasury, succeeded in obtaining the formal nomi- 
nation of the party caucus on Feb. 14, 1824; less than a 
third of the Republican members were present, and the 
character of the nomination rather injured than aided 
Crawford. Henry Clay was nominated by the legislatures 
of Kentucky and four other States ; he was very popular 
in Congress and throughout the West. All three of the 
candidates just mentioned were in ability and experience 
well qualified to be President. 

A fourth candidate, at that time a Senator from Ten- 
nessee, was Gen. Andrew Jackson. He was a rough 
Andrew frontiersman, skilled in Indian wars, but so 

Jackson. insubordinate in temper that in 1818 he had 
invaded Florida without instructions; and Calhoun as 
Secretary of War had suggested in the cabinet that he 
be court-martialled. Jackson himself at first held back, 
but in 1822 he received the nomination of the Tennessee 
legislature, and in 1824 that of the legislature of Pennsyl- 



250 Political Development. [§§133-135. 

vania. Benton has called him " the candidate of the 
people, brought forward by the masses ; " he was really 
brought forward by one of his neighbors, Major Lewis, 
who was convinced that he had the elements of popularity, 
and who managed his campaign with great skill. But no 
combination could be made for him with the Albany 
Regency; Van Buren's organ, the "Argus," said of him : 
"He is respected as a gallant soldier, but he stands, in 
the minds of the people of this State, at an immeasurable 
distance from the Executive Chair." 

The election showed that Jackson had ninety-nine elec- 
toral votes, Adams eighty-four, Crawford forty-one, and 
Electoral Henry Clay thirty-seven. The popular vote, 
vote. gQ £^j. ^g j|- could be ascertained, was 150,000 

for Jackson, and about 110,000 for Adams. There was 
no clear indication of the people's will, and under the 
Constitution the House of Representatives was to choose 
the President from the three candidates who had received 
most electoral votes. Several Clay electors had changed 
their votes to Crawford; the result was that Crawford, 
and not Clay, was third on the list, and that Clay was 
made ineligible. 

134. The Election of 1825. 

Crawford's influence had now much dechned, so that 
Clay and his friends held the balance of power between 
Clay favors Jackson and Adams. On Jan. 8, 1825, Clay 
Adams. advised his friends to vote for Adams, who 

was in every way the more suitable candidate: he re- 
presented principles acceptable to the large majority of 
voters; he favored a tariff; he was an enthusiastic advo- 
cate of internal improvements; he desired to make the 
influence of the United States felt in South and Central 
America. 

The vote in the House showed thirteen States fof 



m 



1822-1825.] Presidential Election. 251 

Adams, seven for Jackson, and four for Crawford. Jack- 
son accepted the result calmly, — indeed Adams had always 
Election In shown a friendly spirit toward him, and had 
the House, defended him in 1818. Within a few days a 
rumor went abroad that Clay had sold his support of 
Adams for the appointment as Secretary of State. He 
"Corrupt denied it, Adams denied it, and there has 
bargain." never been any proof to show that there had 
been an understanding between them or their friends. 
Jackson's supporters, however, were quick to see the 
damaging effect of such a charge, and began to publish 
abroad the assertion that there had been a corrupt bar- 
gain, or, as John Randolph put it, " a coalition of Blitil and 
Black George, — a combination, unheard of until now, of 
the Puritan and the blackleg." Once persuaded that the 
charge was true, it was impossible to disabuse Jackson's 
mind, and during the next four years his friends continued 
to assert that he had been deprived of the Presidency by 
a trick. 

Another equally baseless and equally injurious charge 
was that the House had violated the spirit of the Consti- 
tution by selecting a candidate who had a less number of 
"Demos electoral votes than Jackson. "The election 
Krateo." qJ y^^^ Adams," said Benton, "was also a 
violation of the principle, Demos Krateo." In conse- 
quence, many members of Congress who had voted for 
Adams lost their seats. 



135. The Panama Congress (1825-1826). 

The new President was handicapped from the begin- 
ning of his administration by his inability to make up a 
Adams's Strong Cabinet. Clay was eager and venture- 
cabinet, some ; the other members, except Wirt, were 
not men of great force. Adams manfully withstood the 



252 Political Development. [§§ 135, 136. 

pressure put upon him to remove the adherents of Craw- 
ford and of Jackson in the public service ; a high-minded 
and magnanimous man, he was determined that his ad- 
ministration should not depend upon the political services 
of office-holders. 

In December, 1824, Gen. Simon Bolivar had issued 
invitations to the Spanish American governments to send 
Proposed delegates to a Congress at Panama, and the 
Spanish- invitation was later extended to the United 

American 

Congress States. One of the questions to be discussed 
was "resistance or opposition to the interference of any- 
neutral nation" (§ 129). Another was "the manner in 
which the colonization of European Powers on the Amer- 
ican continent shall be resisted." The evident purpose 
of the proposed meeting was to secure some kind of joint 
agreement that the Monroe Doctrine should be enforced. 
In such a meeting the United States might naturally ex- 
pect to have a preponderating influence ; and Clay accepted 
the invitation a few days before the first Congress under 
Adams's administration assembled. 

The proposition was taking, and it was undoubtedly in 
line with the policy of the preceding administration. 
Objections to Nevertheless it was resolved by the opponents 
the Congress, ^f Adanis to make a stand against it, and it 
was not until March 14, 1826, that the nominations of the 
envoys were confirmed by the Senate. The first objec- 
tion to the scheme was that it would commit the United 
States to a military defence of its neighbors To this, 
Adams rephed that he intended only an "agreement be- 
tween all the parties represented at the meeting, that 
each will guard by its own means against the establish- 
ment of any future European colony within its borders." 
Among the powers invited to send delegates was Hayti, 
a republic of revolted slaves as yet unrecognized by 
the United States government. To Southern statesmen, 



1825, 1826.] Panama Congress, 253 

association with Hayti meant an encouragement to slave- 
insurrection in the United States. 

The controversy was now transferred to the House, 

where an informal resolution was passed that the United 

States "ought not to become parties ... to 

Connection ..,,.., 

with Monroe any jomt declaration for the purpose of pre- 
Doctnne. venting the interference of any of the Eu- 
ropean powers." The necessary appropriations were v/ith 
difficulty secured, and the envoys despatched Before 
they reached Panama the Congress had adjourned, and 
it never reassembled. The instability of the Spanish- 
American governments was such that any joint agreement 
must have obliged the United States to assume great re- 
"sponsibilities, without any corresponding advantage. 

136. Internal Improvements (1817-1829). 

The failure of the bonus bill in 1817 (§ 121) had only 
checked the progress of internal improvements. The 
Monroe's Cumberland road had been slowly extended 
veto. westward, and up to 1821 $1,800,000 had been 

appropriated for it; but on May 4, 1822, Monroe vetoed 
a bill for its preservation and repair. The technical ob- 
jection was that tolls were to be charged; in fact, the 
veto was, like Madison's, a warning to Congress not to 
go too far. 

Nevertheless, on March 3, 1823, a clause in a light- 
house bill appropriated $6,150 for the improvement of 
First har- harbors. Up to this time the States had made 
bor bill. such improvements, reimbursing themselves 

in part out of dues laid by consent of Congress on the 
shipping using the harbor. The next year another step 
in advance was taken by appropriating $30,000 for pre- 
Preliminary liminary survcys : the expectation was that 
surveys. ^j^g whole ground would be gone over, and 

that the most promising improvements would be under- 



254 Political Development. [§§136,137. 

taken and finished first. A third step was the act of 
Stock sub- March 3, 1825, by which the United States 
scriptions. subscribed $300,000 to the stock of the Chesa- 
peake and Delaware Canal 

At the beginning of Adams's administration, there- 
fore, the country seemed fully committed to the doc- 
trine that, under the Constitution as it stood. Congress 
might build works, or subscribe money to aid in their 
construction, and ought to look forward to completing 
a general system. Clay had declared, Jan. 17, 1825, 
that he considered the question of carrying into effect 
"a system of internal improvements as amounting to 
the question whether the union of these States should 
be preserved or not ; " and in his inaugural address, 
March 4, 1825, Adams urged the continuance of the 
systerti. Here again appeared opposition, partly sec 
tional, and partly intended to embarrass 
pposi 1 n. ^(^a^j;,-,s -phe Virginia legislature declared 
internal improvements unconstitutional ; and on Dec. 20, 
1826, Van Buren introduced a resolution denying the 
right of Congress to construct roads and canals within 
the States. 

An effort was now made to av^oid the question of ap- 
propriating money by setting apart public lands. Grants 
of eight hundred thousand acres of land were 
made for the construction of canals in Indiana, 
Ohio, and Illinois, and such gifts continued at irregular 
intervals down to 1850. Since the debt was rapidly dis- 
appearing, another suggestion was that the surplus reve- 
^. ., . nue should be periodically divided among the 

Distribution. ^ ^ r- ^ ,xxf 

States. It satisfied no one. As Hayne of 
South Carolina said : " We are to have doled out to us as 
a favor the money which has first been drawn from our 
own pockets, . . . keeping the States forever in a state 
of subserviency." 



1825-1829.] Inteiiial Iinprovenients. 255 

Although $2,310,000 were appropriated for internal im- 
provements during Adams's administration, on the whole 
The system the System was growing unpopular. Calhoun, 
losing ground, ^^q as Secretary of War in 18 19 had recom- 
mended a judicious system of roads and canals, in 1822 
said that on mature consideration he did not see that the 
requisite power was given to Congress in the Consti- 
tution. On the whole, Adams's enemies opposed the 
appropriations. 

137. The Creek and Cherokee Questions (1824-1829). 

Another difficulty inherited by Adams's administration 
arose out of the promise of the United States in 1802 to 
Tribal gov- remove the Indians from within the limits of 
eraments. Georgia as soon as possible. The two prin- 
cipal tribes were the Creeks and the Cherokees, both par 
tially civilized and settled on permanent farms, and both 
enjoying by treaty with the United States a tribal govern- 
ment owing no allegiance to Georgia. On Feb. 12, 1825, 
a treaty had been signed by a few Creek chiefs without 
Difficulty with the authority or consent of the nation, by 
Georg^ia. which they purported to give up lands of the 

tribe in Georgia. In defiance of the government at 
Washington, the Georgia authorities proceeded to survey 
the lands, without waiting to have the treaty examined ; 
and Governor Troup called upon the legislature to 
"stand to your arms," and wrote to the Secretary of 
War that " President Adams makes the Union tremble 
on a bauble." In a sober report to the legislature it was 
urged that the time was rapidly approaching when the 
Slave States must "confederate." 

The survey was suspended; but on Nov. 8, 1825, Gov- 
ernor Troup advised the legislature that " between States 
equally independent it is not required of the weaker to 



256 Political Development. [§§ 137. 138. 

yield to the stronger. . - . Between sovereigns the weaker 
is equally qualified to pass upon its rights." On Jan. 24, 
Conflict of 1826, a new treaty was negotiated, by which 
authority. ^ considerable part of the disputed territory 
was given to Georgia. Again the State attempted to 
survey the lands before the transfer was completed, and 
again Adams interposed. On Feb. 17, 1827, Governor 
Troup called out the State militia to resist the United 
States troops. Congress was rather pleased at the humil- 
iation to the President, and declined to support him ; he 
was obliged to yield. 

The Cherokees, more highly civilized and better or- 
ganized than the Creeks, could not be entrapped into any 
The Chero- treaty for surrendering their lands. Georgia, 
kees subdued therefore, proceeded to assert her jurisdiction 
over them, without reference to the solemn treaties of the 
United States. Each successive legislature from 1826 
passed an Act narrowing the circle of Indian authority. 
In December, 1826, Indian testimony was declared in- 
valid in Georgia courts. The Cherokees, foreseeing the 
coming storm, and warned by the troubles of their Creek 
neighbors, proceeded to adopt a new tribal constitution, 
under which all land was to be tribal property. The 
Georgia legislature replied, in 1827, by annexing part of 
the Cherokee territory to two counties ; the purpose 
was to drive out the Cherokees by making them subject 
to discriminating State laws, and by taking away the 
land not actually occupied as farms. The issue raised 
was whether the United States or Georgia had govern- 
mental powers in Indian reservations. By a close vote 
the House intimated its sympathy with Georgia, and in 
December, 1828, Georgia proposed to annex the whole 
Cherokee country. Adams was powerless to defend 
the Indians ; in order to humiliate the President, the 
national authority had successfully been defied. 



1826-1828.] hidia7is. Tariff of 1828. 257 



138. The Tariff of Abominations (1828). 

In one respect Adams was successful : he negotiated 
almost as many commercial treaties as had been se- 
Commercial cured during the previous fifty years. Trade 
treaties. \^2,^ sprung up with the Spanish American 

States. England had meanwhile begun to relax her sys- 
tem of protection, and encouraged manufactures by 
importing raw materials on very low duties ; woollens 
were therefore so cheapened that they could again be 
sold in the United States in competition with American 
Woollens manufacturers. In October, 1826, the Boston 
^'^^' woollen manufacturers asked " the aid of the 

government." A bill was accordingly introduced, which 
Adams would doubtless have signed, increasing the duties 
on coarse woollens. It passed the House in 1827, but 
was lost in the Senate by the casting vote of the Vice- 
President, Calhoun. His change of attitude is signifi 
cant ; it showed that the most advanced Southern states- 
man had abandoned the policy of protection, as he had 
abandoned the policy of internal improvements. The 
Boston petition marked another change. New England 
had at last settled down to manufacturing as her chief 
industry, and insisted on greater protection. 

The narrow failure of the Woollens Bill in 1827 en- 
couraged a protectionist convention at Harrisburg, which 
Tariff agi- Suggested very high duties ; but the main 
tation. force behind the movement was a combination 

of the growers and manufacturers of wool, including many 
Western men. It is probable that Clay was glad to 
make the tariff a political issue, hoping thus to confound 
the anti-Adams combination. 

A new bill was reported, introducing the novel princi- 
ple that the raw materials of manufactures should be 
highly protected ; the purpose was evidently to frame a 
17 



258 Political Development. [§§138,139. 

tariff unacceptable to New England, where Adams had 
his chief support, and to draw the votes of the South 
Tariff on raw ^^^^ West. The Western Jackson men favored 
materials. \^ because it raised the tariff; and the South- 
ern anti-tariff men expected to kill Adams with the bill, 
and then to kill the bill. They therefore voted for enor- 
mous duties : the duty on hemp was raised from $35 to 
$60 a ton ; on wool from about thirty per cent to about 
seventy per cent In vain did the Adams men attempt 
to reframe the bill: when it came to a vote, sixteen of the 
The act thirty-nine New England members felt com- 

passed, pelled to accept it, with all its enormities, and 

it thus passed the House. Even Webster voted for it in 
the Senate, and his influence secured its passage. On 
May 24, 1828, Adams signed it. Throughout the debate 
the influence of the approaching campaign was seen. 
John Randolph said of it : " The bill referred to manu- 
factures of no sort or kind except the manufacture of a 
President of the United States." 

Notwithstanding these political complications the South 
saw clearly that the act meant a continuance of the pro- 
Southern tectivc System. Five States at once protested 
protests. jn se^ tcmis against the law and against the 
passage by Congress of protective acts. Calhoun came 
forward as the champion of this movement, and he put 
forth an argument, known as the South Carolina Expo- 
sition, in which he suggested a convention of the State 
of South Carolina. "The convention will then decide 
in what manner they [the revenue acts] ought to be 
declared null and void within the limits of the State, 
which solemn declaration would be obligatory on our own 
citizens." The period of the Virginia and Kentucky 
Resolutions seemed to have returned. 



1825-1829] opposition to Adams. 259 

139. Organized Opposition to Adams (1825-1829). 

It has been seen that on most of the great questions 
which arose in Adams's administration there was a divi- 
sion, not so much on principle, as between the friends 
and opponents of the President. The four years of his 
administration were really a long-drawn Presidential cam- 
paign. The friends of Jackson sought in every possible 
way to make Adams odious in the pubhc mind. 

One of the early evidences of this personal opposition 
was a report brought in, May 4, 1826, by a Select Com- 
Executive mittee on Executive Patronage; it included 
patronage, Benton and Van Buren, who had heartily 
given in his adhesion to Jackson. They reported that 
the exercise of great patronage by one man was danger 
ous, and they proposed that a constitutional amendment 
be secured, forbidding the appointment of senators or 
representatives to office. In the next Congress, from 
Retrench- 1827 to 1 829, the Jackson men had a majority 
'"^"'- in both Houses, and an attempt was made to 

prejudice Adams by showing that the government was 
extravagant. Resolutions were adopted calling for a 
retrenchment ; but no misuse of the public money could 
be brought home to the President. 

The so-called investigations were only political ma- 
noeuvres: a President who permitted his political ene- 
mies to remain in office was upbraided for abusing the 
appointing power ; a President who had never removed 
one person for political reason was accused of a misuse 
of the removing power. Nevertheless, the steady waning 
of Adams's popularity shows that he was not in accord 
with the spirit of the people of his time. 

Meanwhile, a formidable combination had been formed 
against him. In October, 1825, Jackson had been re- 
nominated by the Tennessee legislature. Crawford's 



26o Political Development. [§§ 139, 140 

health had failed, and his followers, chiefly Southern 
men, threw in their lot with Jackson. Van Buren pre- 
lackson's pared to renew the combination of Southern 
campaign. ^nd Middle State votes which had been so 
successful in 1800, His organizing skill was necessary, 
for the Jackson men lacked both coherence and principles. 
Strong bank men, anti-bank men, protectionists, and free- 
traders united in the support of Jackson, whose views 
The Demo- on all these points were unknown. Towards 
crats. ^j^g gj^^ q£ Adams's administration the opposi- 

tion began to take upon itself the name of the Demo- 
cratic party ; but what the principles of that party were 
to be was as yet uncertain. 

140. The Trimnph of the People (1828). 

John Quincy Adams's principles of government were 
not unlike those of his father ; both believed in a brisk, 
Adams's energetic national administration, and in extend- 
pohcy. jj^g ^i^g influence and upholding the prestige of 

the United States among foreign powers. John Adams 
built ships ; John Quincy Adams built roads and canals. 
Both Presidents were trained statesmen of the same 
school as their English and French contemporaries. 
The outer framework of government had little altered 
since its establishment in 1789; within the nation, how- 
ever, a great change had taken place. The disappearance 
of the Federalists had been followed by a loss of the 
Newpoliti- poHtical and social pre-eminence so long eh- 
cal forces. joyed by the New England clergy ; and in 
1835 the Congregational Church was disestablished in 
Massachusetts. The rise of manufactures had hastened 
these changes, both by creating a new moneyed class, and 
by favoring the increase of independent mill-hands having 
the suffrage and little or no property. Cities were growing 



1828.] Triumph of the People. 261 

rapidly, especially in the Middle States: in 1822 Boston 
gave up the town-meeting; in 1830 New York had two 
hundred thousand inhabitants, and Philadelphia one hun- 
dred and seventy thousand ; and the voters in the cities 
were more easily controlled by a few master minds. In 
the South alone was the old principle of government by 
family and influence preserved ; but even here the suf- 
frage was widely extended, and the small planters had to 
be tenderly handled. 

The West was the most important new element in the 
government. The votes of the States west of the moun- 
Power of tains elected Jefferson in 1800, and Madison in 
the West. i8i2, and gave Jackson his preponderance of 
electoral votes over Adams in 1824. The West was at 
this time what the colonies had been half a century earlier, 
— a thriving, bustling, eager community, with a keen sense 
of trade, and Httle education. But, unlike the colonies, 
the West was almost without the tradition of an aristoc- 
racy ; in most of the States there was practically man- 
hood suffrage. Men were popular, not because they had 
rendered the country great services, but because they 
were good farmers, bold pioneers, or shrewd lawyers. 
Smooth intriguers, mere demagogues, were not likely to 
gain the confidence of the West, but a positive and for- 
cible character won their admiration. It was a people 
stirred by men like Henry Clay, great public speakers, 
leaders in public assemblies, impassioned advocates of 
the oppressed in other lands. It was a people equally 
affected by the rough and ruthless character of men like 
Jackson. An account which purports to come from Davy 
Crockett illustrates the political horse-play of the time. 
In 1830 he was an anti-Jackson candidate for re-election 
to Congress. He was beaten, by his opponents making 
unauthorized appointments for him to speak, without 
giving him notice. The people assembled, Crockett was 



262 Political Development. [§ 140. 

not there to defend himself, his enemies said that he 
was afraid to come, and no later explanations could sat- 
isfy his constituents. 

The political situation was still further complicated by 
the adoption in nearly all the States of the general ticket 
General tick- System of choosing electors ; a small majority 
at system. \^ ]\jg^y York and Pennsylvania might out- 
weigh large majorities in other States. In a word, democ- 
racy was in the saddle ; the majority of voters preferred a 
President like themselves to a President of superior train- 
ing and education. Sooner or later they must combine ; 
and once combined they would elect him. 

There was practically but one issue in 1828, — a personal 
choice between John Quincy Adams and Jackson. Not 
Democracy o^^ of the voters knew Jackson's opinions on 
vs. tradition. ^^ tariff or internal improvements, — the only 
questions on which a political issue could have been made. 
It was a strife between democracy and tradition. A 
change of twenty-six thousand votes would have given to 
John Quincy Adams the vote of Pennsylvania and the 
election ; but it could only have delayed the triumph of 
the masses. Jackson swept every Southern and Western 
State, and received six hundred and fifty thousand pop- 
ular votes, against five hundred thousand for Adams. It 
was evident that there had risen up " a new king over 
Egypt, which knew not Joseph." 



INDEX. 



ABE 

ABERCROMBIE, defeated by 
French, 33. 

Abolition societies, 1790, 151. See 
also Anti-Slavery, 

Abominations, tariff of, 257. 

Acts of trade. See Navigation Acts. 

Ad.ims, Henry, on Louisiana ces- 
sion, 187 : on the embargo, 196. 

Adams, John, on Otis's argument, 
48 ; in First Continental Congress, 
61 ; opinion on tlie Revolution, 71 ; 
on American troops, 72 ; on colo- 
nial loyalty, 77; on Board of 
War, 77 ; on the fisheries, 97 ; 
mission to England, 115; Defence 
of the American Constitutions, 140; 
Vice-Pres'ident, 141 ; on parties, 
155 ; elected President in lygS 
165 ; cabinet, 165 ; attitude toward 
France, 166; popularity in 1798, 
i68 ; attacked by journalists, i63 ; 
appoints Hamilton, 168 ; indiffer- 
ence to Alien Act, 169 ; loses pop- 
ularity, 171 , breach w.th cabinet, 
172; defeated in 1800, 173, too 
moderate for his party, 174; makes 
late appointments, 174 ; appointees 
removed, 179; compared with 
John Quincy Adams, 260 ; death, 
245. 

Adams, John Quincy, becomes a 
Republican, 189 ; commissioner 
of peace, 218; on fisheries, 220; 
Secretary of State, 232; Spanish 
negotiations, 234; on secession, 
240 ; on Monroe Doctrine, 243 ; 
candidate for Presidency, 249 ; 



ANG 

elected President, 250; charged 
with corruption, 251 , opposition, 
252 ; defends Panama Congress, 
252 ; on internal improvements, 
254 ; controversy with Georgia, 
255; humiliated, 256; on tariff 
of 1828, 25S , organized opposition, 
259; compared with John Adams, 
260; defeated in 1828, 262 

Adams, Samuel, his character, 57, 
suggests a general congress, 61 ; 
in First Continental Congress, 61 ; 
opposes the Constitution, 131. 

Admiralty decisions, 191. 

Aix-la-Chapelle, peace, in 1748,23. 

Alabama, admitted, 239. 

Alatamaha, southern boundary in 
1750, 2. 

Albany, Congress of, in 1754, 28. 

Albany Regency, 247 ; supports 
Jackson, 250 

Algiers, treaty with, 184 : war with, 
232. 

Alien Act, 169 ; declared void by 
legislatures, 171. 

Alliance, Holy, 242. 

Amendments, proposed to the Con- 
federation, irS; submitted, 142; 
eleventh, 146. 

" America," name when applied, 2- 

Americans, the, in 1750, i, 5. See 
«/j-t; People ; Population. 

American Colonization Society, 237. 

Amiens, peace of, 178, t86- 

Amitie, western boundary of Eng 
lish possessions in 1767, 36. 

Anglo-Saxon institutions, 6. 



264 



Index. 



BYL 



Annapolis, Convention of, 121. 

Annexation, of Louisiana, 185; of 
Oregon, 233 ; West Florida, 233; 
of East Florida, 234, 

Anti-slavery sentiment in 17S0, 113; 
petitions in 1790, 151 ; in 1820, 
236. See also Slavery. 

Appointments, Washington's, 144; 
John Adams's, 165 ; Jefferson's, 
179, 180 ; John Quincy Adams's, 
259- 

Acadia, inhabitants of, removed, 32. 

Aristocracy, American, in 1750, 9, 10. 

Arkansas, settlement in, 238 ; terri- 
torial government, 238 ; admitted, 
241. 

Army, American, continental forces 
in 1775, 75 ; in 1781, 103 ; disband- 
ment of, 105 ; reduction of, 182 ; 
in 1812, 208. 

Army, British, in the French and 
Indian War, 27, 38, 39; proposed 
establishment in America, 45, 49 ; 
protest against by First Conti- 
nental Congress, 62 ; English and 
American compared, 71. 

Arnold, Benedict, treason of , 88 

Articles of Confederation, 93 ; com- 
pared with Albany plan, 30 ; de- 
bated, 94 ; ratified, 95 ; insufficient, 
104 ; amendment suggested, 118 ; 
superseded, 132. 

Assistance, Writs of- See Writs of 
Assistance. 

Association of 1774, 62. 

Assumption of State debts, 149 ; in- 
fluence on parties, 155. 

" Aurora," criticises Federalists, 109 

BALTIMORE, petition for pro- 
tection, 147, attacked, 213. 

Bank of North America, chartered, 
no. 

Bank, United States, proposed by 
Hamilton, 150; chartered, 151; 
allowed to expire, 207 ; re-charter 
refused, 216; second charter, 226', 
cases involving, 235, 

Banks, State, 226. 

Barbary wars, 184. 

Barlow, Joel, poetry of, 138. 

Barron, commands the " Chesa- 
peake," 194. 

Bayard, James A , Federalist, 222 ; 
commissioner of peace, 21S. 

Bayonne Decree, 196. 

Beaumatchais, French agent, 86. 



Beckford, opposes the Stamp Act, 49. 

Belize, a British colony, 2. 

" Belvidera," frigate, attacked, 210. 

Benezet, an anti-slavery agitator, 2r- 

Benton, Thomas H , on the compro- 
mise, 241 ; on Jackson's candi- 
dacy, 250 ; investigation of Adams, 
259 ; on Jackson's election, 251. 

Berkshire County, spirit of rebellion 
in, 93- 

Berlin Decree, 192. 

Bermudas, a part of ''America," 2, 

Bernard, Governor, dispute with the 
General Court, 41, 

Bibliography, i, 22, 42, 6g, 102, 120, 
136, 154, 176, 199, 223, 245. See 
also Suggestions to Readers and 
Teaciiers 

Blockade, principle of, 160; unofH- 
cial, by British, 206 , in Orders and 
Decrees, 191 ; of American coast, 

2X1. 

Board of Trade in England, 16 ; di- 
rects a colonial congress in 1753, 
28. 

Bolivar, Simon, resolutions, 252. 

Bonaparte. See Napoleon. 

Bonus Bill, 228. 

Boston, town meeting in, 12 ; pro- 
tests against the Stamp Act, 51; 
"Massacre," 56; "Tea-party" 
(1773), 58; Port Bill (1774), 59; 
asks for protection, 257 ; becomes 
a city, 261. 

Boundaries, of English possessions, 
2 ; confused in 1783, 99; in 1789, 
137 ; of Louisiana, 187, 233 , re- 
stored after war, 219; of Oregon, 
233. 

Bounty lands, promised the army, 
106. 

" Boxer," captured, 211. 

Breckenridge, proposes judiciary re- 
peal, iSo. 

Broke, captures " Chesapeake," 211. 

Brown, Jacob, success, 213, 221. 

Bryant, W. C-, first poems, 224. 

Bunker Hill, battle of, 75. 

Burgoyne, invasion of, 73, 84, 85. 

Burr, Aaron, a political chief, 173; 
publishes Hamilton's pamphlet, 
172 ; tie with Jefferson, 173; chosen 
Vice-President, 173 ; combination 
with Federalists, 1S8 ; conspiracy, 
189 ; tried for treason, 190 ; ac- 
quitted, 190. 

Byles, Dr. Mather, a loyalist, 93. 



Index. 



265 



CAB 



COM 



CABOT, GEORGE, on seces- 
sion, 217. 

Caldwell, opposes the Constitution, 
130. 

Calhoun, John C, on birth of States, 
Si ; in Congress, 203 ; influence, 
204; on national banks, 226; 
on internal improvements, 228 ; 
favors protection, 230; Secretary 
of War, 233 ; on secession, 240 ; 
candidate for presidency, 249; 
against internal improvements, 
255; opposes protection, 257; 
suggests nullification, 258-, can- 
didate for presidency, 249 -, elected 
Vice-President, 249. 

Callender trial, 170, i8i. 

Campbell, Secretary, incompetent, 
218. 

Canada, military strength in 1755, 
27-, military government by the 
English, 34 ; ceded by the French 
in 1763, 36; feeling of the colonies 
toward, 39 ; no longer an enemy 
in 1764, 49; no share in Revolu- 
tion, 71 ; trade under embargo, 
195; campaigns in 1812-14,213. 

Cape Breton, ceded by France, 36 ; 
joined to Nova Scotia, 37. 

Capital, site of national, 149. See 
also District of Columbia 

Carolinas, old charter, 2, 23 ; at- 
tacked by British, 88. 

Castlereagh, on the embargo, 196 

Caucus, development, 247. 

Champlain, Lake, trade under em- 
bargo, 195. 

Charters, force of in 1750, 7, 13. 

Chase, Samuel, harangue, 181 ; im- 
peached, iSi ; acquitted, 182. 

Chatham, Earl of See William 
^ Pitt the elder. 

Cherokee controversy, 255, 256. 

Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, 
254- 

"Chesapeake," frigate, attacked by 
" Leopard," 194; captured by 
" Shannon," 2t i. 

Cheves, Langdon, in Congress, 203. 

Chile, revolts, 242. 

Chittenden, Governor of Vermont, 

Choiseul, reasons for ceding Canada, 

Cities, unknown in the colonies, i8. 
Civil Service. See Appointments; 
Removals. 



Clay, Henry, Speaker, 203 ; explains 
the war, 205 ; commissioner of 
peace, 218; on fisheries, 219; 
favors United States Bank, 227; 
favors protection, 230, 248; on 
Colonization Society, 237 ; favors 
slavery, 239 -, candidate for presi- 
dency, 249: electoral vote, 250; 
supports Adams, 2 50; charged with 
corrupt bargain, 251-, in the cab- 
inet, 251; favors Panama Congress, 
252 ; on internal improvements, 
254; on tariff of 1828,257. 

Clinton, a native governor, 11. 

Clinton, De Witt, nominated 1812, 
205. 

Cohens vs. Virginia, 235. 

Coinage, Jefferson's report on, 
1 1 1. 

Colleges See Education. 

Colonies, geography, 2 s govern- 
ment of, 13-, effects of the French 
War, 39; control of, George III.'s 
plan, 44; control by colonial 
department in 1767, 54-, popula- 
tion in 1775, 70; assert loyalty 
(1775). 77; attitude toward inde- 
pendence, 79. 

Colonization Society, 237. 

Columbia, District of. See District 
of Columbia. 

Columbia River, discovered, 233 ; 
explored, 233, Sec also Oregon. 

Columbian Order, founded, 140. 

Commerce, intercolonial, 3 ; amount 
of colonial, 18 -, effect of French 
and Indian War, 39 ; opened by 
Continental Congress, 76; ham- 
pered after Revolution, 100, 103 ; 
amendment on, iiS; in the Con- 
stitution, 127, 128 ; restricted in 
1794, 160 •, aggressions on, 191; 
Jefferson's policy, 193 ; effect of 
embargo, 197 ; British captures 
(1808), 200 ; under non-intercourse, 
200; British aggressions a griev- 
ance, 204; languishes, 221 ; trans- 
portation, 224. in iSi •5,224; after 
1815, 247; treaties under J. Q. 
Adams, 257. 

Committee of Correspondence, cre- 
ated (1772), 57 ; selected in Mas- 
sachusetts, 61; "with our friends 
abroad,'' 75. 

Committee system, under Continen- 
tal Congress, 77 ; slow develop- 
ment, 142. 



266 



Index. 



DEC 



Common law, influence of, in 1750, 
7; modified in the colonies, 
10, 

" Compact " theory of the Constitu- 
tion, 133 : stated in 1798, 171. 

Compromises, of Constitution, 125 ; 
on capital, 159-, Missouri, 238 

Concord, battle of, 64. 

Confederation, formed, 93 ; progress 
of, 102-119; to be amended by 
Convention, 122 ; expiration of, 
132, See also Articles of Confed- 
eration ; Congress. 

Congress, First Continental, 61; 
Second Continental, 73 •, popular 
conception in 1775. 73; pro- 
vincial, 8 1 ; bad management by, 
89 ; of Confederation inefficient, 
104 ; votes for a convention, 121 •, 
transmits Constitution, 129; pro- 
vides for new government, 132 ; 
organization in 1789, 141 ; atti- 
tude on slavery in 1790, 151; po- 
litical complexion in 1797, 165 ; 
weakness of, 216. 

Congress of Panama, 251. 

Connecticut, a charter colony, 13; 
old charter limits, 2, 23; govern- 
ors in, 14, 15', sacrifices in the 
French and Indian War, 38 ; 
claims affected by Quebec Act in 
1774, 60 ; old charter continued, 
81 ; Western claims, 107; territo 
rial cession, 107, 137-, emancipa- 
tion in, 114; ratifies Constitution, 
131 ; refuses militia, 215. 

"Constellation," takes the " Insur- 
gente," 16S. 

Constitution, conception of, in 1750, 
7 ; formation of State, 81 ; origin 
of written, 125 ; of Confederation, 
93; Convention of 1787, 121 •, 
compromises, 126; details, 127; 
is it a compact ? 133 •, system gains 
ground, 200 ; construction by Su- 
preme Court, 234 ; of Missouri, 
240. 

"Constitution," frigate, 208; cap- 
tures " Guernere," 210; captures 
" Java," 210. 

Continent of North America, 2. 

Continental Congress, First, 60 ; 
Second, 73. 

Continental currency, issued by Con- 
tinental Congress, 76, 89 ; depre- 
ciation, 90. 

"Continentals," 71, 



Continental System, formed by 
Napoleon, 191 ; breaks down, 212. 

" Contraband of War," 160. 

Contracts, impairment of, 235, 236, 

Conventions, provincial, 81 ; State 
constitutional, 82 ; Annapolis, 121 ; 
Federal, 121 ; Harrisburg, 257. 

Convict emigrants, 4. 

Corn bury, a foreign -born governor, 

Cornwalhs, capture, 83, 84, 88. 

Cotton, cultivation, 237 ; manufac- 
ture of, 225 ; in tariff of 1816, 231 ; 
in tariff of 1824, 248. 

Councils, colonial, 14', judicial func- 
tions, 15. 

County, English in 1600, 11 ; in New 
England, 12 •, in the South, 13. 

Courts, established by Continental 
Congress, 77; of arbitration, 94, 
105 ; appeals on prize cases, 105 ; 
origin of Federal, 124, 125 ; orga- 
nization of, 145 ; defiance of Jef- 
ferson, 190; resisted by Pennsyl- 
vania, 207 ; constitutional deci- 
sions, 234. See also Judiciary, 
Supreme Court. 

Crawford, W. H., Secretary of 
Treasury, 232 ; political device, 
246; candidate for presidency, 249 ; 
electoral vote, 250. 

Creek controversy, 255. 

Crockett, Davy, defeated for Con- 
gress, 261. 

Cumberland Road, 227 ; extended, 
253 

Currency, Continental, 76, 89, go; 
under Confederation, in; State 
paper issues, 112 ; Bank of United 
States, 150. See also Bank; 
Coinage. 

DALLAS, Geo. M., recommends 
national bank, 226; favors pro- 
tection, 230. 
Dartmouth College vs. Woodward, 

236. : 

Davie, on State aggression, 117. \ 

Deane, Silas, American envoy, 86. ' 
Debt, due British merchants, 98 ; 
difficulties in collecting, 116 ; Ham- 
ilton's funding scheme, 14S ; as- 
sumption of State debts, 149; 
increase under Federalists, 182 ; 
reduction, 1S3; in War of 1812,207- 
Declaration of Independence, 79 ; 
effect, 80 ; effect abroad, loi. 



Index. 



267 



FED 



Declaration of Rights, by Stamp 
Act Congress 52 ; by Samuel 
Adams, 57 ; by First Continental 
Congress, 62 ; in Declaration of 
Independence, 80 ; in first ten 
amendments, 129, 142, 

Decrees, French, against neutral 
trade, 192 ; additional, 202. 

Delaware, a proprietary colony, 13 ; 
first to ratify, 131. 

Democracy, American, in 1750, 10. 

Democratic clubs, organized, 159; 
discredited by Whiskey Rebelion, 
164. 

Democratic party, founded, 156 ; 
name dropped, 164 ; name re- 
vived, 249, 260. See also Repub- 
lican. 

Departments, executive, organized, 
144. 

Dependency Act (1765), 53 ; repealed 
by Parliament, 54. 

Detroit, captured by British, 209 ; 
recaptured, 209. 

Dickinson, John, arguments against 
taxation, 54. 

District of Columbia, formed, 149 ; 
slavery in, 238. 

Dorset, Duke of, on American treaty, 

Dunmore, a foreign-born governor, 

Duquesne, Fort, founded by the 
French, 26 ; approached by Wash- 
ington, 26; taken, 33. 

Dutch, political influence of, 6. 

Ij'CONOMIC conditions in the 
^ colonies, 18. 

Education, in 1750, 18; in 1789, 138; 
in 1815, 224. 

Election, of 1788, 143 ; of 1796, 164 ; 
of 1800-1801, 172 ; of 1804, 189; of 
1812, 221; of 1816, 221, 231; of 
1820, 221; of 1824, 248; of 1825, 
250; of 1828, 262. 

Embargo, in 1794, 161 ; recommended 
by Jefferson, 195; evaded, 195 ; 
purpose, 196 ; effect, 196 ; failure, 
197 ; repealed, 197 ; Madison's 
recommendations, 205. 

England, use of name "America," 2; 
emigration, 4 ; control of the colo- 
nies, 6, 16, 41 ; discriminations 
against colonial trade, 19 ; claims 
to Western territory in 1750, 23 ; 
military strength in 1755, 27; com- 



parison with Athens, 43 ; condi- 
tion in 1763, 43 ; determination to 
subdue colonies in 1774, 59; popu- 
lation in 1775, 70; economic condi- 
tion in 1775, 70 ; disliked by Conti- 
nental powers, 71 ; American war, 
82 ; peace with United States, 95 ; 
on American commerce in 1783, 
100 ; discrimination against com- 
merce, 115; complaints against 
United States (1784), n6; influ- 
ence of institutions on Federal 
Convention, 124 ; retains frontier 
posts, 137 ; commerce with in 
1789, 139; war with France, 157; 
grievances against in 1794, 160; 
aggressions on American com- 
merce, 161 ; treaty of 1794, 162 ; 
treaty with France in 1802, 178; 
war with France (1803), 191 ; ag- 
gressions on American commerce, 
191 ; attacks neutral trade, 192 ; 
negotiations for treaty in 1806, 
193 ; vessels ordered out of Ameri- 
can waters, 195 ; Rose negotiation, 
196 ; Erskine treaty, 201 ; Jackson 
negotiations, 201 ; on French 
Decrees, 202 ; Foster negotiation, 
203 ; economic condition in 1812, 
207 ; war breaks out, 205 ; military 
events, 209 ; peace negotiations, 
218; Treaty of Ghent, 218 ; com- 
mercial convention of 1815, 232; 
fishery convention, 232 ; territorial 
agreement of 1S18, 233 ; attitude 
on Spanish America, 242. See 
also Army ; Colonies ; Navy ; 
Treaty; War. 

" Era of good feehng," 249. 

Erskine treaty, 201. 

"Essex," ship, cruise, 211; taken, 
2n. 

Etruria, kingdom of, 186, 187. 

Eustis, Secretary, incompetent, 208. 

Excise, Hamilton's scheme, 147 ; 
unpopular, 163 ; repealed, 183 ; 
reimposed, 216. 

Executive, under Confederation, 105; 
organization of, 143 ; departments 
organized, 144. See also Presi- 
dent. 



FEDERAL Convention, work of, 
121-12S. 
Federalist party, formed, 156; atti- 
tude toward France, 166; carry 



268 



Index. 



FED 

Alien and Sedition Acts, 169 ; con- 
fronted by resolutions, 170; divis- 
ions, 171; causes of their fall, 173 ; 
distrust of Jefferson, 176; Jeffer- 
soTi's designs on, 178 ; on the 
judiciary, 180; on annexation of 
Louisiana, 188 ; combine with Burr 
in New York, i8g ; lose ground, 
203 ; opposed to war, 204 ; com- 
municate with British, 207 ; suc- 
cessful in New England, 216 ; 
absorbed, 221, 248, 260 ; principles 
triumphant, 222. 

'■ Federalist," the, 130 ; on national 
government, 135. 

Finances, of the Revolution, 89 ; 
low state in 1783, 103 ; of the 
Confederation, 109; amendment 
schemes, 118; Hamilton's policy, 
147-151: Jefferson's policy, 182; 
effect of embargo, 200 ; in War 
of j8i2, 206. See also Bank; 
Debt; Requisitions; Taxation. 

First Continental Congress sits, 61 ; 
its authority, 62. 

Fisheries, colonial, 18 ; effect of 
French and Indian War, 39; in 
negotiation of 1782, 96, 97; in- 
jured by the Revolution, 100; in 
negotiations of 1814, 219 ; conven- 
tion of 1S18, 220. 

Fletcher vs. Peck, 236. 

Florida, retained by England in 1763, 
37 ; divided, 37 ; returned to Spain, 
1782,96 ; desired by Jefferson, 185 ; 
invaded by Jackson, 249 ; ceded 
by Spain, 233. 

Foreign relations. See Treaty ; War ; 
af id foreign countries by name- 

Fort Dearborn, captured, 209. 

Fort Duquesne. See Duquesne, 
Fort. 

Fort Erie, battle of, 213, 219. 

Fort Necessity, captured by Wash- 
ington, 26. 

Fortifications, neglected, 183, 193. 

Foster, negotiates, 203. 

France, colonial possessions, 2 ; 
colonial slavery, 19 ; claim to 
American territory, 23 ; chain of 
posts in 1753, 25 ; Fort Duquesne 
founded, 26 ; military strength in 
1755, 27 ; war with England, 24-33 ; 
exclusion from North America, 34 ; 
assistance in Revolution, 85; money 
advances to United States, 91 ; 
peace with England (1783), 98 ; 



GEO 

Revolution affected by America, 
loi, 157 ; loans to United States, 
iii; American sympathy, 157; 
war with England, 157 ; aggres- 
sions on American commerce, 161; 
Monroe's mission, 166; Pinck- 
ney insulted, 166 ; X. Y. Z. affair, 
167 ; war with United States, 
167 ; makes peace (1800), 172 ; 
spoliation claims, 172 ; treaty with 
England (1802), 178; war with Eng- 
land (1803), 191 ; Continental Sys- 
tem, 191 ; defeat at Trafalgar, 191 ; 
favored by Jefferson, 193 ; Decrees, 
193; additional Decrees, 202 ; cap- 
tures American merchantmen, 205. 

Franchise. See Suffrage. 

Franklin, Benjamin, warning against 
the French in 1754, 26; plan of 
union, 29 ; on the failure of the 
Albany plan, 30 ; as a military 
man, 38; pi'otests against Stamp 
Act, 49, 52; on independence, 80; 
envoy to France, 86 ; in the Con- 
vention, 121 ; recommends prayers, 
126 ; on the " rising sun," 128. 

Franklin, State of, 112. 

Frederick II., in the Seven Years' 
War, 34 ; abandoned by England, 
35 ; opinion on the Union, 100. 

" Free ships," 161. 

French and Indian war, causes of, 
23 ; breaks out, 27 ; character of, 
30 ; effect on the colonies, 37. 

Freneau, a partisan editor, 156. 

Fries Rebellion, 174. 

Fugitive slaves, first act, 152 ; amen- 
datory bills, 238. 

GAGE, GENERAL, governor 
of Massachusetts, 60 ; unable 
to execute his commission, 63; 
besieged, 64, 77. 

Gallatin, Albert, Secretary of Treas- 
ury, 179; on removals, 179; finan- 
cial plans, 182; acceiDts war, 204; 
sent abroad, 218 ; on impressment, 
219. 

" Gaspee," destroyed in Rhode 
Island, 57 

Genet, French Minister, 159. 

Geography, colonial, 2 ; United 
States, 137. 6"^^ rt/j<? Annexation ; 
Boundary; Treaty. 

George III., comes to the throne, 
34; his character, 35; accepted 
as legitimate sovereign, 43 ; favors 



Index. 



269 



GEO 



IMP 



repeal of Stamp Acr, 52 ; on taxa- 
tion, 56; attitude in 1775, 70; on 
Pitt, 87 ; insists on American 
war, 88 ; consents to peace, 96. 

Georgia, population in 1770, 4 ; ex- 
tended southward in 1763, 37 ; 
refuses to cede, log ; ratification 
by, 131 ; territorial claims (17S9), 
137 ; sued, 146 ; advocates slave- 
trade, 146; Yazoo grants, 235; 
territorial settlement with, 17S; 
Indian controversy, 255 ; defiance, 
255 ; success, 256. 

Gerry, Elbridge, in the Convention, 
121; in Congress, 142; invents 
Gerrymander, 247. 

Ghent, negotiations at, 218; treaty 
of, 219. 

Gladstone, W. E., on the Constitu- 
tion, 124. 

Government in America, sources of, 
5 ; established in 1775, 76. See 
also Congress ; Legislature ; Ex- 
ecutive ; Judiciary. 

Governors, colonial, 9, 15, 16 ; rela- 
tions with legislature, 10 ; force of 
instructions, 13, 16; appointed by 
the Crown, 16 ; State, 82. See 
also States by name. 

Great Britain. See England. 

Greene, a natural soldier, 73 ; South- 
ern campaign of, 88. 

Grenville, George, colonial policy 
of, 44 ; project of a stamp duty, 
48, 50. 

" Guerriere, captured, 210. 

Gunboat system, 193. 



HALF KING, opinion on the 
war, 26. 

Half-pay question, 106. 

Hamilton, Alexander, suggests 
amendment of Confederation, 119 ; 
in the Convention, 121 ; in the 
"Federalist," 130: influence on New 
York Convention, 131 ; made Sec- 
retary of Treasury, 144 ; financial 
scheme, 147 ; influences Jefferson, 
149; proposes a bank, 150; on 
implied powers, 150 ; influence, 
153 ; founder of a party, 155 ; quar- 
rel with Jefferson, 156; defends 
Jay treaty, 162 ; in Pennsylvania, 
163 ; retires, 165 ; retains leader- 
ship, 165 ; appointed general by 
Adams, 168 ; attacks John Adams, 



172 ; prefers JeflTerson to Burr, 173 ' 
intrigues against Adams, 174 ; 
killed by Burr, 189. 

Hancock, John, charged with smug- 
gling, 66 ; opposes the Constitu- 
tion, 131. 

Hanover. House of, relations to col- 
onies, 17. 

Harbors, improvement begun, 253. 

Harrisburg, Protectionist Conven- 
tion, 257. 

Harrison, W H., in War of 1812, 
220 

Hartford Convention, 217 

Harvard College in 1750, 18. 

Havana, taken by the English in 

1762, 35 ; ceded back to Spain in 

1763, 36. 

Hayne, on the "compact," 133; on 
surplus, 254. 

Hayti, French colony, 185 ; relation 
to Louisiana cession, 187; in Pan- 
ama Congress, 252. 

Henry, Patrick, opposition to Stamp 
Act, 51 ; in First Continental Con- 
gress, 61 ; on dissolution of gov- 
ernment (1774), 77; on requisitions, 
153; opposes the Constitution, 129, 
132. 

Hessians, hired by English, 72. 

Holy Alliance, 242. 

" Hornet," ship, at sea, 210. 

House of Representatives, organiza- 
tion of, 124, 141. See also Con- 
gress. 

Howe, General, campaign of, 84. 

Hudson River, danger of attack 
through, 83; Burgoyne's expedi- 
tion, 73, 85. 

Hudson's Bay Company, a part of 
" America," 2 ; in Oregon, 233. 

Hull, General, capitulates, 209. 

Hutchinson, native governor, 15; 
house sacked by a mob, 51 ; pub- 
lication of his correspondence, 58, 



IBERVILLE, boundary of Louisi- 
ana, 36, 187. 
Illinois, county of, 95 ; admitted, 

239 ; canals, 254. 
Immigration, 246. 
Impeachments, i8r, 182. 
Impressment, by British ships, 161 ; 

revived, 191 ; again ordered, 195 ; 

a giievance, 206 ; no guaranty 

obtained, 218. 



2/0 



Index. 



IND 



KNO 



Independence, not generally desired 
in 1775, 77; suggestions of, 78; 
Congress hesitates, 78 ; Declara- 
tion of, 79- 

India, scene of rivalry between Eng- 
land and France, 26 ; in the Seven 
Years' War, 30 ; Ikitish empire in, 
43- 

Indiana, admitted, 236 ; canals, 254. 

Indians, on the frontier, 3 ; in the 
colonies in 1750, 4 ; effect on social 
life, 18; influence of the Iroquois, 
24 ; opposition to settlement in 
1750, 24 ; influence in French and 
Indian War, 28 ; risnig in 1763, 40; 
in Revolutionary War, 72 ; control 
assumed by Continental Congress, 
76; relations with in 1781, 103; 
question of neutrality, 219. 

Insurrection, in States, 112; Shays', 
113; outbreaks, 189; Fries, 174; 
under embargo, 195. 

" Insurgente," taken by " Constella- 
tion," 168. 

Internal improvements, need of, 224 ; 
begun, 227 ; growth of, 253. 

Iroquois, influence on settlements, 
24 ; treaty with, 28. 

Irving, Washington, Knickerbocker 
History of New York, 224. 

JACKSON, Andrew, and Burr, 
189 ; defence of New Orleans, 
213 ; effect of his victory, 221 ; in- 
vades Florida, 249 ; candidate for 
presidency, 249; electoral vote, 
250; popular vote, 250; defeated, 
251 ; distrusts Adams, 251 ; op- 
posed to Adams, 259; nominated 
for presidency, 259; elected, 262. 

Jackson, Francis James, negotia- 
tions, 201. 

Jackson, James, of Georgia, on seat 
of government, 149; on banks, 
150 ; on slavery petitions, 151 

Jamaica, a part of "America," 2. 

''Java," frigate, captured, 210. 

Jay, John, commissioner in 1782, 
97 ; Superintendent of Foreign 
Affairs, 105 ; Spanish treaty of 
1786, 116; in the "Federalist," 
130; chief justice, 146; envoy to 
England, 161 : his treaty, 162 ; un- 
popularity in France, 166; treaty 
expires, 192; on cotton, 237. 

Jefferson, Thomas, drafts Declara- 
tion of Independence, 79; Ordi- 



nance of 1784, 107; report on 
coinage, in; on slavery, 114; on 
government, 140 ; minister to 
France, 157; Secretary of State, 
144 ; arranges debt compromise, 
149 ; on implied powers, 150 ; 
founder of a party, 155 ; quarrel 
with Hamilton, 156 ; report on 
commerce (1793), 161 ; candidacy in 
1796, 165; elected Vice-President, 
165 ; suggested for Adams's cabi- 
net, 165 ; on secession in 1798, 170; 
authorship of Kentucky Resolu- 
tions, 171; tie with Burr, 173; 
represents rising Democracy, 175; 
character, 177 ; faults, 177 ; policy, 
178; inaugural address, 178; civil 
service, 179; dislike of navy, 184; 
on Louisiana, 1S6 ; defends annex- 
ation, 188; laxity regarding Burr, 
190 i inclination toward France, 

193 ; suppresses treaty of 1806, 

194 ; recommends embargo, 195 ; 
discouraged, 197; humiliated, 198; 
on secession in Massachusetts, 
217 ; Union in danger, 217; politi- 
cal principles, 222 ; on internal 
improvements, 22S; permits tarifts, 
229; opposes protection, 231; in 
retirement, 232; on slavery ques- 
tion, 236 ; on Monroe Doctrine, 
243 ; death, 245. 

Johnson, Sir William, influence on 
Indians, 24. 

Jones, Paul, exploits of, 88. 

Judiciary, colonial, 15; under Con- 
tinental Congress, 77 ; under Con- 
federation, 94, 105 ; in the Conven- 
tion, 122 ; organized under new 
Constitution, 145 ; act of 1801, 174 ; 
act of 1S02, 179; constitutional 
construction ,234. See also Courts; 
Supreme Court. 

Justices of the peace, in England, 13 

KENTUCKY, early settlement, 
in, 39 : spirit of separation ir,. 
113 ; sentiment against sla\eiy. 
115; threatens to withdraw, jit: 
independent spirit in, 137 ; Reso- 
lutions of 1798, 170. 

King of England, power over colo- 
nies, 16. 

King's Friends, the, 44 

Knox, Henry, made Secretary of 
War, 144 ; speech in the Senate, 
145 ; resigns generalship, 168. 



Index. 



271 



LAF 

AFAYETTE, comes over, 85. 
_rf Lake Erie, battle of, 209 
ands, grant of, in colonies, 10 ; 
bounty to troops in French War, 
39; dispute during Revolution, 
94 ; cessions delayed, 103 ; prom- 
ised as bounties, 106 ; sale planned, 
107 ; Cumberland Road to reach, 
227; Gallatin on use for improve- 
ments, 22S ; grants, 254. See also 
Boundary ; Territory. 

.at:n-Anierican States, 241 

.awrence defeated, 211. 

legislature, colonial, relations with 
governors, 10 ; form of, 14 ; colo- 
nial experience in French war, 40 ; 
Continental Congress, 73 ; Con- 
gress of Confederation, 104 ; or- 
ganization under new Constitution, 
141. Sec also Congress. 

■ Leopard" attacks " Chesapeake," 
194; apology for the outrage, 203. 

vewis. Major, Jackson's director, 250. 

jexington, battle of, 64 

Jncoin, Abraham, on birth of 
States, 81. 

Little Belt '' fired upon, 203. 
Little Sarah," a privateer, 159 

viving3ton,negotiations with France, 
i85. 

joans, by Continental Congress, 70, 
76 ; in War of 1812, 207. See also 
Debt. 

jQcal government in the colonies in 
1750, S, II ; mixed system, 13 

jOng Island, battle of, 84. 

jord-lieutenant in England, ii. 

^oudoun,quarrels with the Massachu- 
setts Assembly, 38; his embargo, 39. 

jouisbourg, importance of, 26 ; cap- 
ture in 1758, 33. 

L,ouisiana, ceded to Spain in 1763, 
37, 185 ; ceded to France, 1S6 ; 
right of deposit withdrawn, 186 ; 
annexation, 185 ; boundaries set- 
tled, 233 ; admitted, 236 ; slave- 
holding, 23S. See also Annexa- 
tion ; Boundary ; Territory. 
Louverture, Toussaint, resistance to 

French, 1S6. 
Lowndes, Wm., in Congress, 203. 
Loyalists, moral pressure on, 64 ; 
nriob violence, 65 ; during Revolu- 
tion, 92 ; in the treaty of peace, 
98 ; treatment after the peace, 
116. 
Lundy's Lane, battle of, 213. 



MAR 

McCULLOUGH vs. Maryland, 
1819, 235.. 

Macdonough, victory of, 213. 

" Macedonian," frigate, captured, 
210. 

Mackinac captured, 209. 

McLane, on compromise, 238. 

RLiclay, William, his journal, 141 ; 
account of Senate proceedings, 
H.3, 144 

" Macon Bill No 2," 202. 

Madison, James, on the States, 117; 
in the Convention, 121 ; presents 
Virgmia plan, 123 ; sketch of 
federal governments, 124 ; in the 
"Federalist," 130; defends the 
Constitution, 131; in Congress, 
142; influence, 153; authorship 
of Virginia Resolutions, 171 ; ex- 
plains, 171 ; Secretary of State, 
178 ; sued by Marbury, 181 ; 
against embargo, 197 ; becomes 
President, 200 ; cabinet, 200 ; 
Erskine treaty, 201 ; dismisses F. J. 
Jackson, 201 ; agrees to war, 204 ; 
recommends war, 205 ; controversy 
with Massachusetts, 216; desires 
peace, 218; congratulates the 
country, 220 ; political principles, 
222 ; vetoes Bank Bill, 226 ; urges 
United States Bank, 226, 227 ; 
vetoes Bonus Bill, 229 ; opposes 
protection, 231 ; in retirement, 232; 
in Colonization Society, 237 ; on 
Monroe Doctrine, 243. 

Maine, Sir Henry, on the Constitu- 
tion, 124. 

Maine, spirit of separation in, 113; 
British occupation, 213; asks ad- 
mission, 239 ; admitted, 240. 

"Mandamus councillors" in Mas- 
sachusetts, 61. 

Manor, English, in 1600, 11. 

Manufactures in 1789, 139; in War 
of 1812, 221; rise, 225; increased, 
230. See also Protection. 

Marbury vs. Madison, 181. 

Marshall, John, defends the Consti- 
tution, 131 ; envoy to France, 167 ; 
Secretary of State, 172; Chief 
Justice, 174; decision in Marbury 
case, 181; Burr trial, 190; in Su- 
preme Court, 234. 

Martin vs. Hunter's Lessee, 235. 

Maryland, a proprietary colony, 13; 
receives orders to repel French, 
26 ; refuses to ratify Confedera- 



2/2 



Index. 



MAS 



NEW 



tion, 95 i ratifies, 95 ; ratifies Con- 
stitution, 131 ; internal improve- 
ments, 227. 

Massachusetts, old charter, 2, 13, 23 ; 
sacrifices in French and Indian 
War, 38 ; suggests Stamp Act Con- 
gress, 51; protests against taxa- 
tion (1768), 55 ; objects to troops 
(1768), 56; charter altered by Par- 
liament ( 1774), 59', effect of Que- 
bec Act, 60 ; suggests a general 
congress (1774), 61 ; revolutionary 
government in, 61, 64, 74; declared 
in rebellion, 63 ; supported by the 
colonies (r775), 64; shuts Gage up, 
75 ; constitution formed, 82 ; in- 
ternal dissensions, 93 ; protests 
against half pay, 106 ; territorial 
cession, 107 ; supports national 
government, 112 ; Shays' rebellion, 
113 ; emancipation act (17S0), 114; 
opposed to slavery, 123; effect on 
Constitution, 125 ; ratifies Consti- 
tution, 131 •, sued, 146; votes for 
Jefferson, 1S9 ; chooses a Republi- 
can senator, 203 ; refuses militia, 
215 ; invaded, 215 ; sacrifices for 
War of 1812, 216; report against 
the war, 216 ; calls Hartford Con- 
vention, 217. 

Mecklenburg Resolutions, 78. 

Mediterranean fund, 229. 

Mexico, Burr's intentions on, 190; 
revolution in, 242. 

Milan Decree, 192. 

Militia, in the Revolution, 72 ; in 
War of 1812, 20S ; refused by New 
England States, 214. 

Minimum in tariff of 1816, 231. 

Miquelon retanied by France in 
1763,37-. 

Mississippi admitted, 236. 

Mississippi River, difficulty of ascent, 
24 ; navigation of, 96, 97, 137. 

Missouri, asks admission, 238 ; de- 
bate on slavery, 239 ; compromise, 
240. 

Mitchell tried for treason, 161. 

Mohawk River, settlements on, de- 
layed, 24. 

Monroe Doctrine, 243 ; proposition 
to extend, 252, 253. 

Monroe, James, opposes the Consti- 
tution, 131 j mission to France, 
166 ; envoy to France, 186 ; politi- 
cal principles, 222 ; elected Presi- 
dent, 231 ; cabinet, 232 ; announces 



his Doctrine, 243 , vetoes Cum- 
berland Road bill, 253. 

Montcalm, takes command in Can- 
ada, 32; scanty forces, 34; de- 
feated by Wolfe, 34. 

Montgomery, General, on American 
army, 72 

Montreal, taken by the English, 3 •. 

Morocco, treaty v\ilh, 184. 

Morris, Gouverncur, drafts Constitu- 
tion, 128', plea for Constitution, 
180. 

Morris, Robert, superintendent of 
finance, 105; plans, no. 



NAPOLEON, scheme of colo- 
nial empire, 1S5 ; cedes Louis- 
iana, 187 ; Continental System, 
191 ; on the embargo, 196; "loves 
the Americans," 202 ; seizes Amer- 
ican property, 203 ; Russian cam- 
paign, 212; abdicates, 212. 

Nation, government in 1775, 76; 
little national spirit in 1812, 207; 
conditions of growth in 1815, 223 
See also Table of Contents. 

Navigation Acts, 17 ; not effectual, 
19 ; provisions of, 45 ; constitution- 
ality denied by Otis, 47 ; slightly 
relaxed in 1764, 50; complained of 
by Stamp Act Congress, 52 ; com- 
missioners created to enforce in 
1767? 54; principal cause of Re- 
volution, 66. 

Navigation in 1750, 4. See also 
Commerce ; Ship-building, 

Navy, American, begun under 
Adams, 167; "chaste reforma- 
tion," 182 ; Jefferson's dislike to, 
1S4, 193 ; in 1812, 208 ; success in 
the war, 210. _ 

Navy, British, in 1755, 27; in 1762, 
35 ; officers commissioned as rev- 
enue officials, 48 ; possible use of 
in 1775? 83; in 1812,208; defeats, 
210. 

Navy, French, in American waters 
in 1778, 87. 

Negroes in 1750, 4. See also Sla- 
very. 

Neutrality, in 1793, 158; principles 
of neutral trade, 160 ; aggressions 
on trade, 191 ; effect on War of 
18 1 2, 205. Sec also Commerce. 

Neville's house attacked, 163. 

Nevi'burgh addresses, 106 



I 



Index. 



273 



NEW 



PAR 



New England, grant of lands, 10 ; 
sacrifices in the French and In- 
dian War, 38 ; sympathy of other 
colonies, 62 ; attempt to isolate in 
Revolution, 73 , on regulation of 
commerce, 123 ; rum, 139 ; op- 
posed to protection, 147 ; opposes 
Louisiana cession, iSS ; trade 
prosperous, 193 ; effect of embargo. 
197; reaction in, 200; receives 
Francis James Jackson, 201 ; op- 
position to War of 1812, 204; 
refuses militia, 214; favored by 
England, 215; manufactures, 230; 
opposition to protection in 1816, 
231; favors protection, 258; in- 
fluence of clergy diminished, 260 

Newfoundland, a part of" America," 
2. 

New Hampshire, Revolution in, 78; 
a government devised by Congress, 
79 ; constitution framed, 82 ; in- 
surrection in, 113 ; emancipation 
in, 114; in the Convention, 120, 
121 ; ratifies Constitution, 131 ; re- 
fuses militia, 215; Dartmouth 
College case, 236. 

New Jersey, thickly populated, 4; 
emancipation in, 114; tariff war 
with New York, 117 ; ratifies Con- 
stitution, 131. 

New Orleans, not ceded to England 
in 1763, 36 ; battle of, 214. 

Newport, expedition against, 87. 

New York, local government, 13; 
slavery in, 20 ; sacrifices in the 
French and Indian War, 38 ; ef- 
fect of French War, 40 , dispute 
about troops in 1767, 54; the 
Assembly suspended (1767), 54 ; 
militia to be armed, 75 ; held by 
the British, S4 ; emancipation in, 
114; defeats revenue scheme, 
118; ratifies Constitution, 131; 
does not recognize Vermont, 137; 
becomes Republican, 173 ; Burr 
and the Federalists, 189 ; Repub- 
lican split, 205 ; supports Bonus 
Bill, 22S; constructs Erie Canal, 
229; manufactures, 230 ; political 
removals, 246 ; politics, 247 ; influ- 
ence in Presidential elections, 262. 

New York city, occupied by the 
British, 73, 84 ; temporary seat of 
government, 132; growth, 261. 

Niagara, taken by the English in 
1758, 33 ; in War of 1812, 209, 213. 



Non-importation act, 194 ; in effect, 

Non-intercourse, proposed in 1794, 
161 ; application, 200. 

" North American Review " 

founded, 224. 

North Carolina, cedes Tennessee, 
109, 137; revolt in, 113; does not 
ratify Constitution, 130; status in 
1789, 132; enters the union, 133, 
149- 

North, Lord, plans of conciliation, 
74, 86. 

Northwest Territory, Ordinance of 
1787, 108 ; opening, 137. 

Nova Scotia, disconnected from 
other colonies, 3 ; a vulnerable 
point, 32; French inhabitants re- 
moved, 32 ; threatened by Clay, 
205. 

OFFICERS, British and Ameri- 
can, compared, 73 

Ohio, admitted, 236 ; canals, 254 

Ohio Company in 1749, 25. 

Ohio River, not far fi^om the coast, 
24; upper tributaries, 25 

Oliver, compelled to resign stamp 
collectorship, 51. 

Olmstead case, 207. 

Orders in Council of 1783, 100 ; 
against neutral trade, 192 ; with- 
drawal asked, 196 ; Erskine treaty, 
201 ; not withdrawn, 205 ; with- 
drawn, 206. 

Ordinance of 1784, 107 ; of 1787, 108. 

Oregon, explored, 233 ; occupied, 
233 ; effect of Spanish treaty, 234. 

Osborn et al. vs. Bank of U. S., 235. 

Oswald, British commissioner, 96. 

Otis, James, argument against sla- 
very, 21 ; protest against taxation, 
41 ; argument against Writs of 
Assistance, 47 ; in Stamp Act 
Congress, 52. 

PAINE Thomas, Public Good, 
121. 
Panama Congress, 251. 
Paper money, used by Continental 
Congress, 76 ; issued by States, 
112. See also Currency. 
Parish, English, in 1600, ii ; in the 

South, 13. 
Parliament, government in England, 
, 9 ; power over the colonies, 16 ; 
power deprecated in 1754, 30 ; 



18 



274 



Index, 



PAR 



QUE 



right to tax denied by Stamp Act 
Congress, 52 ; asserts right of leg- 
islation in 1765, 53; annuls action 
of New York, 54 ; passes coercive 
acts in 1767, 55 ; right of taxation 
denied by First Continental Con- 
gress, 62 ; acts of 1774 destructive 
of confidence, 66 ; attitude in 1775, 
70; not imitated by Federal Con- 
vention, 124. 

Parties, formation of, 155. 

Patterson, Wm., in the Convention, 
123, 126. 

Peace commission, English, of 1778, 
86. 

Peace of 1782, 95 ; of 1800, 172 ; of 
Ghent, 218. See also Treaty. 

" Peacock, " captured, 211. 

Pennsylvania, race elements in, 4; 
quarrel over quit-rents, 10 ; a pro- 
prietary colony, 13; local govern- 
ment, 13 ; colonial protective 
duties, 19; colonial boundaries, 
24; Western claims in 1750, 25 ; 
orders to repel French, 26 ; suffers 
from Indians in 1756, 32 ; luke- 
warm in French War, 38 ; Western 
settlements, 39; revolt of Western 
counties, 112; emancipation, 114; 
ratifies Constitution, 129, 131 ; ad- 
vocates protection, 146; opposed to 
excise, 163 ; votes for Jefferson in 
1796, 165 ; resists United States 
courts, 207; manufactures, 230; 
opposed to Supreme Court, 234 ; 
political removals, 246; nominates 
Jackson, 249; votes for Jackson, 
262. 

People. See Population. 

Perry, victory of, 209. 

Petition of Congress to the king, 
1775' 78 ; of Quakers against 
slavery, 151. 

Philadelphia, captured by Howe, 85; 
mutiny of troops at, 106 ; meeting- 
place ofCongress, 122; growth, 261 

Pickering, John, impeached, 181 ; 
convicted, 181 

Pickering, Timothy, on clipping coin, 
III ; removed by Adams, 172; 
advocates secession, 188. 

Pinckney, C. C, on the Confedera- 
tion, 117; insists on slave-trade, 
127 ; minister to France, 166 ; 
candidate in 1800, 172. 

Pinckney, Thomas, candidate in 1796, 
165 ; Adams's opinion of, 165. 



Pinkney, William, minister to Eng- 
land, 193 ; withdraws in 181 1, 203. 

Pitt, William (Earl of Chatham), 
comes to power in 17^7, 33 , dis- 
agrees with George III., 35 ; raises 
colonial troops, 38 ; opposed to 
taxing the colonies, 52 ; retires in 
1765, 53; sympathizes with the colo- 
nies in 1775, 63 ; death, 87. 

Pitt, William, the younger, impor- 
tance in English history, 33. 

Pittsburg, site selected for English 
post, 25 ; founded, 33. 

Plassey, battle of, in 1757, 33. 

Plattsburg, battle of, 213 ; effect on 
Wellington, 219. 

Political ideas in 1750,6; in 1789, 
140 ; in 1824, 245 

Pontiac, war of 1763, 40, 49. 

Population, in 1750, 4 j in 1775, 70; 
in 1789, 138 ; in 1815, 123 ; changed 
conditions, 260. 

Porter, captured on the " Essex," 
211. 

Portugal, American colonies, 43. 

Post Office, under Confederation, 
109. 

Posts, frontier, retained by British, 
116. ^^^ a/jo Boundaries. 

Potomac River, improvement of, 227. 

President. See Executive- 

"President" (frigate), captures 
"Little Belt," 203; at sea, 208, 
210 ; captured, 211 

Press, establishment of partisan, 156 ; 
act regulating, 168. 

Princeton, battle of, 71, 84. 

Pnvateers, in War of 1812, 211, 212. 

Privy Council, decisions on bounda- 
ries, 3. _ 

Protection, in the colonies, 19; first 
debate on, 146; in War of 1812, 
225 ; controversy revived in. 1816, 
229 ; first act in 1816,231 ; accepted 
as the national policy, 248, 258. 
See also Tariffs. 

Putnam, Israel, a natural soldier, 73 ; 
experience in French War, 46. 

QUAKERS, protest against sla- 
very, 21 ; anti-slavery peti- 
tions, 151. 
Quartering acts, 50, 60. 
Quarter Sessions, English, 11. 
Quebec,' importance of, 26; captured 
by the English, 34 ; Clay's designs 
on, 205. 



Index, 



275 



QUE 



SLA 



Quebec Act, 1774, 60. 

Quincy, Josiah, defends a slave, 152 ; 
secession speech, 207 ; resolutions 
against the War of 1812, 216. 

RACE ELEMENTS, in 1750, 
4; in 1789, 138. 

Randolph, Edmund, presents Vir- 
ginia plan, 123 ; defends the Con- 
stitution, 131. 

Randolph, John, remains a Republi- 
can, 222 ; opposes protection, 230, 
248 ; favors Monroe, 232 ; against 
slave-trade, 241 ; on the compro- 
mise' of 1820, 241 ; on tariff of 
1824, 248 ; on Clay, 251 ; on tariff 
of 1828, 25S. 

Rebellion declared to exist in Amer- 
ica, 78. See also Insurrection ; 
Revolution. 

Redemptioners as immigrants, 4. 

Removals, Jefferson's, 179 ; in the 
States, 246 ; John Quincy Adams's, 
252. See also Appointments. 

Representation, compromise on, 126. 

Republicans, party name, 164; mod- 
erate, become Federalists, 167, 16S ; 
success of, 176; favor annexation 
of Louisiana, 188 ; injured by em- 
bargo, 197 ; majority in Congress 
in 181 1, 203 ; split in New York, 
205 ; invent Gerrymander, 247. 
See also Democrats ; Federalists. 

Requisitions, by Continental Con- 
gress, 91 ; under Confederation, 
109; unpaid, 117; abandoned, 153. 

Responsible ministry. See Parlia- 
ment. 

Revenue scheme, ii8. 

Revolution, of 168S, political influ- 
ence of, 6 ; causes of American, 
42, 68 ; justification of, 64 ; not an 
unanimous movement, 71 ; military 
conditions of, 70 ; political eflfects, 
99; influence on France, loi. 

Rhode Island, thickly populated, 4 ; 
a charter colony, 13 ; colonial gov- 
ernors elected, 15 ; slavery in, 20; 
opposed to Navigation Acts, 57 ; 
old charter continued, 81 ; eman- 
cipation in, 114; recalls her dele- 
gates, 117; defeats five-per-cent 
scheme, 118 ; no delegates to Con- 
vention, 120, 121 ; delays ratifica- 
tion, 129; status in 1790, 132; 
refuses militia, 215. 

Rockingham ministry, 52. 



Rose, George, embassy to United 

States, 196. 

" Rule of 1756," 160. 

Russia, alliance with France, 200 ; 
favors America, 212 ; defeats 
Napoleon, 212 ; offers mediation, 
2 18 ; claim to northwest coast, 242 ; 
in Monroe Doctrine, 243. 

SAN DOMINGO, colony, 185; 
expedition against, x86; influ- 
ence on Louisiana cession, 187. 

San Ildefonso, treaty of, 1S6. 

Saratoga, capture of Burgoyne at, 
8S- 

Savannah taken by British, 88. 

Schools. See Education. 

Scott, Winfield, in War of 1812, 220. 

Secession, suggestion in 179S, 170; 
suggested by Pickering, 188; sug- 
gested in New England, 216 ; sug- 
gested in 1820, 240. 

Second Continental Congress, 73. 

Sedition Act, 169; called void, 171. 

Senate, organization of, 124, 141 ; 
cabinet officers in, 144. See also 
Congress. 

Seven Years' War breaks out, 26; 
peace of 1762, 36. 

Sewall, Samuel, protest against sla- 
very, 20. 

"Shannon," frigate, captures 
" Chesapeake," 211. 

Shays Rebellion in Massachusetts, 
113- 

Sherman, Roger, on slave-trade, 127. 

Ship-building, in the colonies, 19 ; 
favored by Navigation Acts, 46. 

Shirley, Governor, system of taxa- 
tion in 1756, 41. 

Six Nations, influence on settle- 
ments, 24. 

Slavery, in 1750, 4, 19; slaves use- 
less in Revolution, 71 ; slaves 
taken away by the British, 98; 
prohibited by Northwest Ordi- 
nance, 108; State emancipation 
acts, 113 ; representation of slaves, 
126; unsettled by Constitution, 
128; slave States in 17S9, 13S ; 
new questions of, 151 ; growth, 
236; cotton cultivation, 237. 

Slave trade, in the colonies, 20 ; im- 
portance of, 39 ; prohibited by the 
Association in 1774, 62 ; prohibited 
by Continental Congress, 76; 
State action against, 115; per- 



276 



Index. 



SMI 



mitted by Constitution, 127 ; prop- 
osition to tax, 146 ; forbidden, 237. 

Smith, Robert, incapable, 200. 

Smuggling in the colonies, 46. 

Smythe at Niagara, 209. 

Social life in the colonies, 18. 

" Sons of Liberty " organized, 50, 52. 

South, local government, 12 ; oppo- 
sition to protection, 1816, 231 ; 
opposes protection, 258; govern- 
ment in, 261. See Colonies a7id 
States, by name. 

South Carolina, race elements in, 4 ; 
slaves, 4 ; government advised by 
Congress,^ 79 ; cedes claims to 
United States, 109 ; champions 
slavery, 123 ; insists on slave-trade, 
127 ; ratifies Constitution, 131 ; ob- 
jects to protection, 147; objects 
to bank, 150; Federalist politics, 
155; deserts the Federalists, 173; 
for the embargo, 197 ; nullification 
suggested, 258. 

South Sea, in early charters, 23. 

Spain, declares vi'ar on England in 
1762,32; hostile to England in 1778, 
87; allied with France, 88; money 
advances to United States, 91 ; re- 
lations with United States, 116; 
cedes Louisiana to France, 186; 
withdraws right of deposit, 186; 
protests against the annexation, 
188; defeat at Trafalgar, 191 ; re- 
volt against France, 200 ; revolt 
of colonies, 241 ; Bourbons re- 
stored, 241 ; again restored, 242; 
in Monroe Doctrine, 243. 

Speaker of the House, 142. 

Stamp duty, proposed by Grenville, 
48 ; remonstrance against, 49 ; 
bill passes, 49; repealed, 53. 

State, Department of , organized, 141. 

States, name assumed by colonies, 
80; constitutions, 81 ; requisitions 
on, 91 ; Revolutionary finances of, 
93 ; ratify the Articles of Confed- 
eration, 94; degree of union, 99; 
relations with Indians, 103 ; vote 
in Congress of Confederation, 104; 
on half-pay, 106 ; territorial settle- 
ment, 107; relations to Confed- 
eration, no; disorders in, in; 
attitude toward slavery, 113; in- 
terference with commerce, 116; at- 
titude on amendments, 118; elect 
delegates to Federal Convention, 
121; to be restrained, 122 ; division 



in the Convention, 123 ; influence 
on the Constitution, 124, represen- 
tation of, 126 ; ratify Constitution, 
128-133; question of the "com- 
pact," 133; boundaries, 137; indus- 
tries, 139; loyalty to, in 1789, 141 ; 
assumption of debts, 149; disputes 
disappear, 153 ; internal improve- 
ments by, 227, 253; limitations 
on, 235 ; appeals from courts, 235. 

Steuben, Baron, on American troops, 
72 ; discipline of, 85. 

Story, Joseph, in Supreme Court, 
234- 

Stuarts, struggle with Parliament, 7, 
8; colonies Httle governed under. 

Suffrage, colonial, 14; extension, 246. 

Sugar Act of 1733, 43 ; renewed in 
1763, 48. 

Supreme Court, organized, 145; sus- 
pended, 180; decision on Marbury 
vs. Madison, 181 ; judiciary ap- 
pointments, 182 ; new justices, 
234 ; great constitutional decisions, 
234. See also Judiciary. 



ALLEYRAND, negotiates, 172. 



^ 



T 



Talmadge, argues anti-slavery cause, 
239 

Tammany Society, founded, 140. 

Tariffs, colonial, 19 ; proposed under 
Confederation, 118; first national 
(1789), 146; act of 1816, 231 ; effect, 
247 ; bill of 1820, 248; act of 1824, 
247 ; act of 1828, 257. See also 
Protection ; Taxation. 

Taxation, customs duties in the 
colonies, 46 ; objections to, 54 ; 
act of 1767, 54; right denied by 
First Continental Congress, 62 ; 
argument against, summarized, 
65 ; amount of colonial, 70 ; under 
Articles of Confederation, 94, 109; 
first revenue act, 146 ; Federalist 
principles, 182 ; Jefferson's prin- 
ciples, 182; in War of 1812, 224. 
See also Protection ; Tariffs. 

Taylor, on Territorial slavery, 23S. 

Tea, duties on, 58. 

Tennessee, early settlements in, 39 ; 
ceded to the United States, 109 ; 
independent spirit, 137 ; nominates 
Jackson, 249. 

Tenure act of 1820, 246. See 
Appointments ; Removals. 



Index. 



277 



TER 



WAR 



Territory, dispute during Revolu- 
tion, 94 ; planned by Congress, 
107; Northwest, 108, 137. See 
Annexation ; Boundary ; Lands. 

Thornton, Sir Edward, on the Rev- 
olution, 66. 

Ticonderoga captured, S4. 

" Timepiece," criticises Federalists, 
169. 

Tippecanoe, battle of, 220. 

Titles of nobility, little known in 
America, 9. 

Town, English, in 1700, ir ; colonial, 
II ; New England, in 1750, 12. 

Townshend, Charles, proposes 
American taxation in 1767, 53. 

Tories. See Loyalists. 

Trade. See Commerce. 

Trafalgar, battle of, 191. 

Transportation in 1789, 139. See 
Commerce. 

Treasury department, organized, 
144. 

Treaty, of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748, 23 
of Paris, 1763, 35 ; with France 
1778, 86 ; peace of 1782-83, 88, 98 
Jay, 1794, 160; France, 1800, 172 
San Ildefonso, 1800, 186 ; with Bar 
bai7 powers, 184 ; with Tripoli 
185 ; Louisiana cession, 1803, 187 
Pinkney, 1S06, 193 ; Erskine, 1809, 
201 ; peace, 1814, 219, 220; fish 
eries, 1818, 220 ; Spain, 1819, 234 
Russia, 1824, 244; John Quincy 
Adams's commercial, 257. See 
also Peace, atid each country. 

Trenton, battle of, 84. 

Trianon, Decree of, 202. 

Tripoli, war with, 184 ; treaty, 184. 

Troup, Governor, 255. 

" True-Blooded Yankee," a priva- 
teer, 212. 

Tucker, Dean, on America, 59. 

Tunis, treaty with, 184. 

UNION of the colonies, urged in 
1754, 29; in 1775, 73; in 1783, 
99; dismtegration, 117; organi- 
zation perfected by 1793, 155; ef- 
fect of War of 1 81 2, 207, 220. 
See also Table of Contents. 

United States, title assumed in 1776, 
80; development, 137-141. See 
also Table of Contents. 

United States Bank, founded, 150; 
constitutional discussion, 150; al- 
lowed to expire, 207 ; secured 



charter, 226 ; constitutionality 
affirmed, 235. 
" United States," frigate, captures 
" Macedonian," 208, 210. 

VALLEY FORGE, winter quar- 
ters, 85, 89. 

Van Buren, Martin, in New York 
politics, 247; does not support 
Jackson, 250; supports Jackson, 
250; against internal improvements, 
254 ; investigation of Adams, 259; 
plans Jackson's campaign, 260. 

Van Rensselaer at Niagara, 209. 

Venezuela revolts, 242. 

Vermont, withdraws from New York, 
112 ; abolition in, 114, 115 ; ad- 
mitted to Union, 152 ; refuses 
militia, 215 

Vestry, select, English, in 1600, 11 ; 
in the South, 12. 

Veto, by colonial government, g ; of 
colonial acts in England, 17 ; in- 
troduced into the Constitution, 125; 
Washington's, 142 ; none by Jeffer- 
son, 198 ; Madison's, 226, 229 ; 
Monroe's, 253. 

Vigol, tried for treason, 164. 

Virginia, old charter, 2, 23 ; popula- 
tion in 1750,4; Western claim in 
1749) 25 ; sends Washington to 
warn the French, 26 ; sufliers from 
Indians m 1756, 32; resolutions 
against Stamp Act, i;i; proposes 
non-importation in 1767, 55 ; claims 
affected by Quebec .A.ct in 1774, 
60 ; denies responsibility to Con- 
gress in 1779, 92 ; capture of north- 
west posts, 95 ; resists Maryland, 
95 ; first land cession, 95 ; second 
cession, 107; retains Kentucky, 
109 ; revolt of western counties, 
1X2 ; sentiment against slavery, 
1 1 5; suggests a national convention, 
121 ; regulation of commerce, 123 ; 
in the Convention, 123 ; unwilling 
ratification of Constitution, 131 ; 
resolutions of 1798, 170; effect of 
embargo, 197; in War of 1812, 216 ; 
resolutions imitated by Massa- 
chusetts, 216 ; for internal improve- 
ments, 227; against internal im- 
provements, 254. 



W 



AR, French and Indian (1754), 
23-34; Pontiac (1763), 40, 49^ 



278 



Index. 



WAR 



X. Y. z. 



Revolution (1775), 70-89; threat- 
ened with England (1794), 161 ; 
with France (179S), 167; Barbary 
powers, 184; threatened with Eng- 
land (1S07), 194 ; spirit in 181 r, 204; 
of 1812, 203-214. 

War department, luider Continental 
Congress, 77 ; under Confedera- 
tion, 105 ; organized, 144 ; in 
War of 1 812, 20S. 

Washington, George, on importation 
of labor, 4 ; locates Western lands, 
25 ; sent to warn the French, 26 ; 
precipitates war in 1754, 23, 26; in 
Braddock's expedition, 31 ; resigns 
from the English service, 38 ; ex- 
perience in French War, 40 ; in 
First Continental Congress as a sol- 
dier, 73 ; appointed commander-in- 
chief in 1775, 75 ; siege of Boston, 
77 ; rage at New York, 84 ; at 
Valley Forge, 85 ; patience of, 89 ; 
on speculation, 91 ; dictatoiial pow- 
ers, 92; influence on Ntwburgh 
addresses, 106; ui;:es conwnerce 
scheme, 118 ; suggests amendment 
of Confederation, 119 ; in the Con- 
vention, 121 ; consulted on Vir- 
ginia plan, 123 ; literary style, 
138; elected President. 143; in- 
augurated, 143 ; title, 143; appear- 
in the Senate, 144; locates seat 
of government, 149 ; signs bai-.k 
bill, [51; influence of, 153; first 
veto, 142; accepts second term, 
156; a Federalist, 156; opinion 
of Freneau, 156; attitude on neu- 
trality, 158 ; calls out militia, 163 ; 
pardons Whiskey insurgents, 161 ; 
defends Jay treaty, 163 ; on Dem- 
ocradc clubs, 164 ; retires, 164 ; 
commander-in-chief in 1798, 168 ; 
death, 174. 

Washington city, founded, 149; 
captured, 213 ; slave-trade, 238. 

*' Wasp," frigate, captures " Frolic," 
210. 

Watson, George, a loyalist, 64, 93. 

^V^^yne, a natural soldier, 73. 

Webster, Daniel, in Corcrress, 203 ; 
opposes United States Bank, 226 ; 
opposes protection, 230, 248, in 
Dartmouth College case, 236; fa- 
vors protection, 258; on the " com- 
pact,", 34. 



Webster, Pelatiah, suggests amend- 
ment, 119. 

Wellington, Duke of, on American 
war, 219 

West, the, in 1789, 138 ; influence 
in Congress, 204 ; favors manufac- 
tures, 230 ; poHtical influence, 
261. 

West Florida, negotiation for, 186 ; 
claim to, 187 ; cession sought, 193 ; 
occupied, 233 ; ceded, 234. See 
also Florida ; Spain. 

West Indies, irregular colonial 
trade, 19 ; scene of French and 
English rivalr3', 26 ; English suc- 
cesses in 1762, 35 ; retained by 
French, 36; American trade re- 
stricted, 100, 104 ; American guar- 
anty to French, 158 ; trade in Jay 
treaty, 16* ; commerce with French 
colonies, 191 ; trade under em- 
bargo, 19s ; trade opened in 1822, 
232- 

West Point, military school founded, 
183. 

Western Reserve of Connecticut, 107. 

Whigs, English, in power, 96 ; out of 
power, 115. 

Whiskey Rebellion, 163. 

William III., importance in English 
history, 33. 

Williams, Roger, protests against 
slavery, 20. 

Wilkinson, and Burr, 189. 

^Vinder, General, defence of Wash- 
ington, 213. 

V. ;rt, William, attorney-general, 232, 

Woicott, Oliver, Secretary of Treas- 
ury, 165 ; aids Hamilton, 172. 
Wolie, General, captures Quebec, 

Woollens, in tariff of 1816, 231; in 
tariff of 1824, 248; in tariff of 1826, 
r57: in tariff of 1828, 258. See 
rt/^i9 Protection ; Tariff- 

Woolmaii, John, an anti-slavery agi- 
tator, 7 1 

Writs of Assistance, dangerous sys- 
tem, 47 ; issued by Massachu- 
setts court in 1761, 47 ; made 
legal, 54. 



X, 



Y. Z., affair of 1797, 167. 




Map No. 2. 

ENGLISH COLONIES 



1763-1775, 

SCALE OF 'MILES 





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annals vi'hich have had the most direct influence on the history and institutions 
of their own land, , , . The authors of this hook have therefore lioldly 
ventured to modify in their narrative the accustomed scale of proportion ; while 
it has been their wish, in the treatment of every detail, to accept the best re- 
sult of modern English investigation, and especially to avoid all unfair or 
one-sided judgments. . , . Extracts froi}i Azitlwr's Preface. 

DR. W. T, HARRIS, U. S. COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION, 

"I take great pleasure in acknowledging the receipt of the book, and be- 
lieve it to be the best introduction to English history hitherto made for the use 
of schools. It is just what is needed in the school and in the family. It is the 
first history of England that I have seen which gives proper attention to socio- 
logy and the evolution of political ideas, without neglecting what is picturesque 
and interesting to the popular taste. The device of placing the four historical 
maps at the beginning and end deserves special mention for its convenience. 
Allow me to congratulate you on the publication of so excellent a text-book." 

ROXBURY LATIN SCHOOL, 
". . . The most noticeable and commendable feature in the book seems 
to be its Unity. ... I felt the same reluctance to lay the volume down 
. , . that one experiences in reading a great play or a well-constructed 
novel. Several things besides the unity conspire thus seductively to lead the 
reader on. The page is open and attractive, the chapters are short, the type 
is large and clear, the pictures are well chosen and significnnt, a surprising 
number of anecdotes told in a crisp and masterful manner throw valuable side- 
lights on the main narrative ; the philosophy of history is undeniably there, but 
sugar-coated, and the graceful style would do credit to a Macaulay. I shall 
immediately recommend it for use in our school." — Dr. D. O. S, Lowell. 

LAWRENCEVILLE SCHOOL. 

"In answer to your note of February 23d I beg to say that we have intro- 
duced your Higginson's English History into our graduating class and are 
much pleased with it. Therefore whatever endorsement I, as a member of the 
Committee of Ten, could give the book has already been given by my action 
in placing it in our classes."— James C, Mackenzie, Lawrenceville, N J. 

ANN ARBOR HIGH SCHOOL. 

" It seems to me the book will do for English history in this country what 
the 'Young Folks' History of the United States ' has done for the history of our 
own country — and I consider this high praise." 

— T. G. Pattengill, Ann Arbor, Mich. 



LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO., 91-93 Fifth ^eilile,-%Jew York. 



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